


Homecomings part 2

by DoomFox



Category: Sonic Boom (Cartoon), Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog (Video Games), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Mild Language, Other, Work In Progress, ongoing series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24959755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoomFox/pseuds/DoomFox
Summary: The recently hedgehog-ified Wachowskis attempt to make the best of their predicament on Sonic and Tails' home planet of Mobius. But a face from their past might threaten to tear them apart for good...Sequel to the Homecomings fic.
Comments: 20
Kudos: 80





	1. Green Hill Zone

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I was originally going to just write one short story about an adult sonic and Tails visiting home for a family barbeque. And now I have a full action-epic rattling around in my brain that I want to get out.
> 
> This is a sequel to my Homecomings fic, so here's some things to know.
> 
> All characters are aged up ten years. Sonic is twenty-three, Tails is eighteen, and all other characters are aged up accordingly.
> 
> Tom and Maddie Wachowski have been transformed into hedgehogs themselves, and are currently stuck on Mobius while they figure out what the hell they're going to do.
> 
> This is a cross between the 2020 movie and Sonic Boom!, although takes place ten years after the movie and doesn't stick heavily to Boom! canon at all.
> 
> There'll be some cussing, but I'll try and keep things PG!  
> 
> 
> That's it! Please enjoy!

My name is Sheriff Thomas Wachowski. And this is my town.

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I stomp a thick black boot into the hot sand, thumbs tucked into my belt, adjusting the black shades and brimmed hat that protect my face from the sun.

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I take a look around at the cluster of wooden shacks. Some people may laugh when you tell them this is a town. 

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But it is. And I... am its protector.

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I begin to stride through the centre of town, noting when the citizens greet me as I pass.

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"Hey there, sheriff!"

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Knuckles, the muscular echidna. Good boy. Simple, but good.

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"Hi sheriff Wachowski! I made you donuts, just the way you like them!"

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Amy, the sweet kid next door. Good baker. 

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"Hi sheriff! I don't hate you any more and in fact accept you as one of our own and I am definitely not hiding military-grade weapons in my basement!!"

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Sticks, the badger girl. A little unhinged, but-wait, what?

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No matter. My attention is drawn to a familiar pair - the black and red hedgehog and his floozy, the purple bat.

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I make my way to the notorious couple and stand before them, asserting my authority here.

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"I hope you two young 'uns are keeping outta trouble," I say to the leather clad pair.

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"I'd never do nothing to cross you, sheriff!" Replies the hedgehog - Shadow, no good nephew of mine. "especially after you saved me from those bandits! I am turning my life of villainy and crime around and in fact want to become a police officer just like you, uncle Tom!"

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"Say sheriff..." Says the bat, straddled over the rear of their chrome motorcycle. "I never thanked you for saving my... friend here..." She strokes the black hedgehog's spines and leans toward me, displaying generous cleavage. "Perhaps we can meet later and I can display my... gratitude..."

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A lesser hedgehog might give in to the temptress. I am not that hedgehog.

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"I don't know what you're suggesting, miss..." I say, displaying the ring on my finger. "But I'm a married man."

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I tip my hat and continue on my way, pointing to the pair before I leave. "Stay out of trouble, now."

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"Yes sir, sheriff!!"

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"See you soon, handsome..."

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Cheers follow me as I approach a familiar yellow figure in filthy denim overalls, waiting for me beside a sleek black machine... my youngest son, Miles. He grins as I draw near.

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"Miles," I say, looking over the machine he presents to me. "This the new pursuit special?"

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The fox adjusts his goggles and smiles confidently. "Sure is, dad! Fancy taking it for a spin?"

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I look the machine over. It's sleek and black, like a bird of prey, with a huge chrome engine produding from the hood. I look to my engineer son. 

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"V8?"

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"Only the best for you, dad!"

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I clap my son on the shoulder and crank open the drivers side door.

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"Then let's see what this girl can do...'

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I settle myself into the leather seat and wrap my gloves around the wheel. It feels strong, seductive. A pure speed machine.

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My radio blares, and a voice I recognise crackles through.

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"Blue Streak to Brown Defender, repeat Blue Streak to Brown Defender! Come in, over!" 

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I retrieve my radio, the frantic tone of my eldest son's voice sending spears through my heart. 

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"This is Brown Defender, Blue Streak." I say, not daring to let my emotions show. " What's the skinny? Over. "

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"Dad, we have a situation here! Some toked-up crazy's headed toward town at high speed and we are unable to maintain pursuit! Can you assist, over?"

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I hear my wife's voice in my head, telling me to be careful today. Sorry babe, duty calls.

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"Copy that, Blue Streak. I'm on my way." I glance to my youngest through the open window. "Might wanna step back, son."

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My fox-son grins as he slaps the hood and skips back from the vehicle, and the crowd of townsfolk cheer as I fire up the engine. The beast roars, as I stamp my boot into the accelerator. The interceptor howls as we leave a trail of dust behind us, heading into the unknown. Watch out scumbags, sheriff Wachowski's on the hunt, so you'd better pray- 

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"TOM!!"

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...............................................

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Sheriff Thomas Wachowski snapped back into reality as a spatchelor flicked the end of his nose. His ears perked and he looked around in bewilderment, surprise pasted over his face and puzzlement in his blue eyes.

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Maddie couldn't help but laugh. Her husband looked just like a confused puppy.

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"You're daydreaming again," she said, wafting a plate of freshly cooked sausages under his nose. "Come on, time for breakfast!"

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Tom grunted and grabbed his plate, leaving the open kitchen and heading for the main living space of the shack. The shack had no real dining table, so the Wachowskis instead made do with the sofas and chairs before the tv.

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"At least we didn't have to use the broom of doom this time, dad!" chuckled Sonic, tucking into his own breakfast as his adoptive father flopped down beside him.

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"Is there something about being a hedgehog that makes you really tired," replied the senior Wachowski as he hiked his feet up onto a stool, "or is it just me?"

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"Nah, that's just you." Sonic flashed his father a cheeky grin. "I guess you're becoming an old man, old man!"

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"Hey!" Came another voice, both males' ears flickering at the sound, "If your dad's an old man..." Maddie exited the kitchen, carrying two more plates of food. "...then what does that make me?"

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Sonic leaned back and gave her a gracious smile as she passed. "You don't count, mother..." He said, egg coating his teeth. "You shall be forever youthful!"

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"Yeah yeah..." Maddie rolled her eyes and grinned, an apparent spring in her step. "don't think that flattery's gonna get you anywhere, young man..."

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Maddie Wachowski leaned over a chair occupied by a particular yellow fox and deposited a plate of breakfast on the table before him.

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"Miles, put that thing away and get your breakfast while it's warm, please..."

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The fox jerked at his name and looked up from his device in bewilderment, ears perked and wearing much the same expression as his adoptive father had a few moments before. 

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Maddie Wachowski grinned as she sat down with her own food. Her boys didn't realise just how cute they could be.

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Tom gestured toward the tv set with a greasy fork. "What's on?"

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Sonic shrugged, mouth full of sausage. "Comedy Chimp's Hilarity Hour reruns."

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"Ugh, I can't stand that guy..."

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"Funny, I thought you liked terrible jokes..."

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The family sat in silence for a while, the only sound the chewing of food, the slurping of coffee, and the low volume of the tv. It was nice, and peaceful, and felt very much like being back home in Green Hills.

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After the events of the last few weeks, they'd take whatever normality they could get.

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"So, uh..." Began Sonic, setting his plate down and clapping his hands , "I know it's been a while, but... Do you guys feel like a trip out? Go see more of the island?"

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Tom laughed, wiping egg from his muzzle. "Yeah, great idea kid. You remember what happened last time we went on a little nature outing?" The brown hedgehog gestured between himself and Maddie, who rolled her eyes.

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"Dad, come on..." Sonic whined and slouched back in his seat, looking every bit the thirteen year old child they had taken in back on Earth so many years ago. "There's so much of the island I wanted to show you! I was kinda hoping we could go explore it... together?"

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Tom looked to his wife, eyebrow raised.

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"Well I think it's a wonderful idea!" The denim-clad black-furred hedgehog leaned forward, eyes bright with excitement. Maddie was unusually... energetic these last couple of weeks. "I'm sick of being stuck around here, let's get out and have a freaking adventure!!"

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"Heck yeah!!" Sonic cheered and leaned in for a fist-bump with his mother, which was quickly accepted. Tom wore an incredulous expression at the display.

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"Okay..." the brown hedgehog sighed resignedly, leaning back in his seat. "I'm tired of sitting around here anyway myself. Probably do us some good to get out. Miles?" Tom gestured toward his yellow fox-son, who jerked up in surprise at his name again. "You up for a ride out?"

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The teenager shook his head, absently stirring his fork in an egg yolk. "sorry dad, I... Have things I need to take care of today..." 

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Tom shot a questioning look to Sonic and Maddie, who shared a glance and then mouthed the same word; 'Zoey'. 

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Tom nodded in understanding. Apparently Miles and his... 'special friend' weren't getting along too well right now. At least that explained why the eighteen year old had been a little... out of things lately.

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"Okay then..." Tom heaved himself out of his chair and gathered the empty plates, balancing them in his arms as he made his way to the kitchen. "But if I come back as a tentacle-monster or a salamander or something, I'm never so much as going to an unfamiliar bathroom on this island ever again..."

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............................................

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"Keeping up there, Donut Lord?"

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Tom glanced to his left as a spiky blue head bobbed beside the driver side window. Sonic, arms folded and running backwards, flashed his dad a cheeky grin as he ran beside the family truck.

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"Cute," nodded Tom, putting on his most unimpressed voicr, "real cute trick you got there."

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Sonic spread his arms and smiled broadly. "What, do we have a jealous old hedgehog on our hands or something?"

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Tom grunted, adjusting his shades. He wasn't exactly accustomed to being referred to as 'hedgehog '. He likely never would be.

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"Just look where you're going, Sonic... " the sheriff called over the noise of the truck, "unless you actually want to smash your skull open?"

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Sonic laughed, turned, and flashed on up the canyon ahead. Dust billowed up from his feet, momentarily obstructing Tom's view of the 'road' ahead. He eased off the accelerator and readied his boot to hit the brakes, just in case there were obstacles ahead he hadn't seen.

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After years of pestering, Tom had finally relented and allowed his engineer fox-son to fiddle with his beloved truck. It had been born of necessity. a new energy recycling system, modelled on that of Tails' bi-plane (Tom still had no idea where his sons had got _that _from), now helped power the truck, meaning they weren't reliant on fuel from Earth. It also produced no harmful waste, which was better for the island paradise the family had made their temporary home.__

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The most important - and humiliating, in Tom's opinion - had been the modifications built to accommodate their new stature. Extended pedals, a raised stick-shift... and a booster seat for the driver.

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Tom grimaced. Years of teasing his adopted son's shorter builds had finally come back to bite him in the ass. Or... boost his ass? 

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Tom winced. That sounded wrong. He wondered how much further their destination was. This island was _big._

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"Oh man! Isn't this exciting? How long d'you think it'll take us to get there? Is it me or is the air really tingly? Hey look at those birds!!"

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Tom glanced to his right as performed a double take as he realised his wife was kneeled in her seat and leaning out of the window, ears and quills flapping wildly in the passing wind. 

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"Maddie?!!" He leaned over and grabbed the back of her denim jacket, yanking her back into the truck. "What the hell is wrong with you? You trying to get yourself killed???"

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His wife just grinned at him, pointed canines glinting and excitement twinkling in her brown eyes.

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"This is just so exciting don't you think?!" She spoke too quickly , as though she were speeding out of her skull. "Where do you think we're going? What time is it? do you think we're there yet? Look at that tree!!"

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Tom just shook his head, bemused, and shifted in his booster seat. How was his family becoming even _crazier?_

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................................................

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Tom had to admit. This place was beautiful. strange, but beautiful.

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They walked between tall palm trees and over grassy meadows brimming with yellow flowers, and scattered with light and dark checkered brown rocks. Bizarre flowers, shaped like springs, nestled at the base of tall ridges, and Sonic confidently led his parents over ancient wooden bridges that looked as though they'd crumble any minute. Beyond lay an enormous twinkling blue lake, that stretched toward giant mountains in the distance.

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Tom smiled as Sonic happily zipped around, showing his parents all the plant life and talking excitedly about the animals that lived in this region. It took the sheriff back years and years, to when he and his wife had first taken Sonic in. They would go for walks through the forests of Green Hills, and talk of all the things they could do now that the little blue alien didn't have to hide any more.

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Tom chuckled to himself as he remembered Ozzy, the family's old long-gone golden retriever that would accompany them on their walks, sometimes even letting Sonic ride his back like a cowboy. Tom missed the old pup. He wondered what Ozzy would think of his old masters now.

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Or maybe he wouldn't have to wonder so hard. His wife was doing a pretty good impression of an excited pup right now.

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"Have you seen these flowers? The trees are so tall! Ohmygod look at those bunnies!!"

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Maddie was excitedly scampering about, looking at everything with fascination, talking a hundred miles an hour and asking a million questions. She was reminding Tom of a particular thirteen year old hyperactive blue hedgehog.

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"Uh, Mads? You okay over there?" Tom called after his hyperactive wife, thumbs tucked into the belt he'd taken to wearing around his hips in lieu of pants pockets.

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"Huh? Yes I'm fine! I'm perfectly fine! why wouldn't I be fine? Doesnt the air feel thin around here? am I talking too fast? I think im talking too fast TomdoyouthinkI'mtalkingtoofast-"

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"Hey, hey!" Tom stepped forward as his wife began swivelling her eyes over the ground and fiddling desperately with her fingers. He took one of her fidgeting hands in his and cupped her chin in his other. "Breathe with me, Wachowski..." He locked his eyes with hers and began the breathing exercises she'd taught him. "Breathe..."

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Maddie closed her eyes and followed the breathing exercises she had learned from years of yoga practice. In and out... In and out... In and out... 

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After a few moments, her eyes slowly reopened and she gave her husband a weak smile.

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Tom took her cheek in his hand "You still with me?" 

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"Yeah... " she shook her head, ponytail quills swaying. Her ears drooped as she look back to him with uncertain brown eyes. "I think it's just... it's just like things used to be... remember? Just me, you, and the munchkin..." She took a deep breath, and her face relaxed into a blissful smile. "I think it's just getting to me, you know?"

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Tom chuckled, thinking back to those forests in Montana. "I know, just... try not to get too wired, okay?"

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She grinned back at him, and for a few moments they gazed into one anothers eyes. The couple felt their hearts flutter. Maybe there _was_ something in the air here... It took them back years, back when they were young and in love and -

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_Nope _. They both looked away awkwardly. Things were too... different now for much more affectionate contact.__

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They probably would be forever.

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"Hey!!"

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The two hedgehogs snapped back into reality, following the swivel of their ears as a blue figure called to them from a nearby ridge.

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"Come on guys!" Sonic called, one hand cupped around his mouth and the other pointing behind him, "I wanna show you something!"

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.............................................

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The planet Mobius had some strange terrain, but Tom had never seen _this_ before.

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The trio stood at the crest of a hill, looking down the emerald plain at several hoop-shaped structures seemingly growing from the ground. The hoops were surrounded by spring-flowers, and half-pipe shaped ridges stretched up into sheer cliffs.

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"Natural loop-de-loops!" Sonic grinned, hands set proudly on hips. "One of the coolest features of planet Mobius!"

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"Wow! " exclaimed Maddie, marvelling at the view before them. "That is so awesome!"

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"Yeah," Tom stood beside his wife, brow furrowed at the alien terrain. "You sure don't get those in Earth. How do they even form?"

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Sonic turned and shot a sly grin to his parents. "Watch this!"

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Tom looked to the blue hedgehog shrewdly, setting his hands on his hips, unthinkingly adopting the same posture as his son. "Watch wha-"

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Before Tom could finish his query, Sonic was sprinting toward the nearest loop-de-loop, not at his top speed but fast enough that he effortlessly ran the circumference. Tom looked on with a mixture of terror and awe as Sonic flashed through several loops, ran around a curved ridge, launched himself from a grassy ramp onto a spring-flower and spun through the air like a perfectly pitched baseball before landing perfectly on his feet in front of his parents.

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The blue hedgehog grinned. "And that," he said, cockily raising an index finger, "is why this is my favourite stomping ground! "

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Tom stared, mouth agape at the demonstration of acrobatic skill, while Maddie squealed and rushed to embrace her son in an excited hug.

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"Oh sweetie, that was so cool!" She hopped up and down, squealing like a teenager. Sonic just wore a lopsided grin and rubbed the back of his quills. 

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"Oh, y'know..." The blue speedster said sheepishly , "You spend enough time running around a single place you learn all the tricks..."

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Tom huffed. "Well if you think I'm trying that, you got another thing coming."

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"What's the matter, old man? " Sonic teased, folding his arms and cocking his head, "don't think you can cut it?"

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Tom folded his own arms, mirroring his blue son almost uncannily. "I believe in a little thing called 'gravity', Sonic."

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Sonic spread his arms wide and flashed a cheeky grin. "Come on! what kind of hedgehog won't even run through a loop-de-loop?!"

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"The kind who wants to keep his spine in the right place, " grumbled Tom, bristling at the 'h' word again. "Y'know Mads, I think our kid might be a little-"

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"Hold my jacket."

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Tom was cut off as a blue denim jacket was deposited into his hands, and he looked to see a black-furred hedgehog lining up with the nearest loop and kneeling into a starting position.

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Oh crap. He recognised this Maddie. This was the Maddie from the high-school girls' soccer team, who had to get the most goals. Had to be the most competitive. Had to be the best.

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Had to be the fastest.

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"Mads?" Tom called nervously , while Sonic looked on in ecstatic disbelief. "You better not be doing what I think you're doing..."

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The black-furred hedgehog just grinned back at him with wild brown eyes, spine and tail arching as she squatted in her starting position. "Why not? "

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"Maddie no-"

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Too late. His speeding wife had launched herself from her starting pose and was sprinting toward the loop accelerating... and accelerating... and accelerating... until Tom was sure her feet were melding together in a blur. Then she was climbing the inner surface of the loop, struggling to maintain her pace... until, momentum gone, her feet left the surface and she began tumbling toward the ground.

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"MADDIE!!!"

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In a flash, Tom's plummeting wife had vanished from the air and was resting in the arms of a blue hedgehog beside him.

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"Way to go, mom!!" Sonic yelled, setting his mother on her feet. Maddie appeared slightly ruffled, but was otherwise beaming like a Cheshire Cat. "That was awesome!! I've never seen you run that fast before!"

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"Yeah," the breathless hedgehog replied, "neither have I..."

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"Are you insane?!" Said Tom, arms spread wide with shock. "What's come over you, Mads?"

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His wife shrugged furry shoulders. "I don't know, Tom..." she looked over the valley before her, a distant look in her eyes. "I just... had to run... "

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"Well, mom!" Sonic clapped his mother on the back then wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "That was some impressive speed! I reckon next time you'll make it all the way through!"

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Tom was about to object to the notion I there ever being a 'next time ', but faltered when he saw the look on his wife's face. even though she had been remoulded into the shape of a Mobian hedgehog, he knew her well enough to feel the determination bleeding from her as she stared back at the loop. He detected a slight nod of the head and tug of a smile, and a small whisper escaped her lips.

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"Next time."

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................................................

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"What's gotten into you, Maddie? " Tom hissed at his wife on the walk back to the truck, waiting until Sonic had zipped on ahead before taking her aside. "I thought you were supposed to be the responsible one! But I guess you just 'had to run'?!"

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She shrugged miserably, unused to being the scolded half of the couple. "It just felt right," she muttered in reply.

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Tom closed his eyes and took a deep breath, calming his nerves. "Maddie," he said evenly, feeling his ears involuntarily droop, "I'm worried about you. You've been acting... not yourself, lately... are you sure you're okay? Is there anything I should know?"

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The flash of brown eyes over the ground and the droop of black ears told him something wasn't right.

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"I don't know, Tom..." Brown eyes flashed back to his, filled with conflict. "Maybe I'm not myself... I feel..." she paused , searching down the words. "I feel... like I belong here... on this world, with our kids... like..." she looked down to her hands and turned them around , allowing the claws to slide out. "Like this..." she blinked hard and looked back to him, eyes watering. "Is that... do you think I'm crazy?"

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Tom looked into his wife's eyes, seeing heartbreaking emotional conflict. He thought he understood. They had become people of two worlds, both from Earth, and born again of Mobius. He couldn't help but feel _some_ kind of connection to this planet... after all, this was both his sons' home world.

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But Thomas Wachowski knew where his real home was. Green Hills, Montana state. Born and raised.

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"I think," the sheriff said calmly, taking both his wife's hands in his. "Its time we go home."

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Maddie cocked her head slightly, ears perked. "Do you mean 'home' home? "

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He nodded. "Yes. I say we go back to Green Hills. See if we can put our lives back together. Somehow."

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She opened her mouth to protest, but he gently hushed her.

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"It doesn't have to be today, and it doesn't have to be forever, but... We have to go back sometime Mads. Get it over with. We have family back on Earth, who have no idea what's happened to us... it's not right to just vanish without giving them any kind of explanation..."

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Maddie smiled and rubbed his cheek. "It'll be crazy though, right? " she !laughed, "just waltzing on home like this?"

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Tom shrugged. I just can't wait to see the look on your sister's face when we show up... "

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Maddie snorted and punched his arm. "At least it'll be good to see Jojo again..." she trailed off, then her ears perked up and her face split into an evil grin. " Y'know... that bear we bought her for Christmas? When she was little? You kinda remind me of him... "

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"Don't..." Tom raised a finger, wearing an appalled expression. "... go getting any ideas! We're not even back yet and you're already thinking of ways to torture me... "

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Maddie wrapped her arms around her husband and leaned her head on his chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat through thick chest fur.

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"Will we be okay?" she quietly asked him, for the first time in this whole crazy adventure looking to him for reassurance.

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"Yeah honey..." Tom stroked a thumb over his wife's brow, "we'll be okay..."

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And then the ground exploded beside them.

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	2. Boss fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The family work together to take down a very unwelcome intruder.

"Get down!!!"

It was fortunate Sonic was so fast. If he had been a split-second too late, too slow to move his parents away from the blast... It didn't bear thinking about.

He had ran on ahead of Tom and Maddie, happily zipping around and enjoying being back in this zone. There were so many green avenues to speed along, so many loops to run through, so many jumps... it was a speedster's paradise.

And despite everything, Sonic was so happy! He was so happy to see his mom and dad connecting again, so happy to just go out walking for the day again, so happy to...

That was the thing.

He felt guilty for being so happy. After all, whatever had happened to his parents hadn't been their choice. But sonic couldn't help himself. He just felt so happy to finally have a family... that was just like him.

That was okay though, right? He had grown up on a planet surrounded by tall, bald, very different people. And even when he had been taken in, when he didn't have to hide any more, he had to live with the knowledge that he was still some weird alien creature. Now... it truly felt like he belonged.

Besides, Tails would eventually find a way to return their parents to human form, right? so why shouldn't he enjoy this while it lasted?

Would it be selfish if he wanted things to stay this way forever? 

The blue hedgehog had been interrupted in his thoughts by the low sound of a familiar humming. Nothing much at first, just enough to tickle his eardrums. But then he felt it. The glare of mechanical sensors, the rumble of anti-grav generators, and instincts he hadn't felt for a long time kicked in again.

Sonic had hoped he was wrong, that his memory was playing tricks on him... until he saw, right there, main blaster pointed directly at his parents, was undoubtedly a...

"Get down!!!"

...............................................

Sonic kept down for a moment, before raising his head to check the surroundings. a smoking blast crater sat gouged into the earth nearby, but the offending machine had vanished. Sonic looked back to check on his parents, finding a single spiky brown ball in his grasp.

Okay, so that was Tom accounted for. But where was-

"Sonic?!"

His ears swivelled to his right, and he suddenly noticed a black-furred hedgehog in a denim jacket also covering the brown ball. 

His mother. It looked as though she had also dived to cover Tom from the attack. How had she moved so fast?

"Mom?" sonic gasped, checking her for injuries, "are you okay?!"

Maddie nodded frantically, shock plastered on her face.

"I'm fine, baby... but what about..."

They noticed movement beneath them, and shuffled back as the spiky brown ball beneath them slowly unfurled into a very ruffled Thomas Wachowski.

Tom looked up at the pair in a daze, shaken from the blast.

"what the hell was that?!" Exclaimed the brown hedgehog, clasping a hand to his head.

Sonic didn't answer. He remained stock still, ears pricked, ready to detect the faintest sound of-

There it was again.

The machine hovered out from behind the family truck, releasing another volley from an underslung cannon.

Again, Sonic moved to rush his family out of the way. Again, his mother reacted with him, sheltering a quivering brown ball.

Sonic shot in front of his parents, striking a defensive posture. "Stay back!!"

The wasp-like machine whirred. It appeared to cock it's main processor unit quizzically, before emitting a series of bleeps and clicks. Then it raised on its anti-grav thrusters, turned tail, and streaked away down the canyon.

"somebody wanna tell me what the hell that thing was?" Cried Tom, uncurling from his usual defensive ball.

"Badnik..." Sonic muttered, before looking back to his parents. "I need to deal with this okay? You guys get to the truck and stay safe!!"

"What on Earth are you gonna do?!" Cried Maddie, holding her husbands head in her arms.

Sonic looked stony faced down the highway in the direction of the fleeing bot. "Gonna take out the trash..." the blue hedgehog muttered.

With that, he flashed away from them in a blue whirlwind.

"Sonic! You can't just go after that thing alone!!!" Maddie called after her son, dropping her husband's head. "SONIC!!!! "

Tom rubbed at his sore head, raising an arm to block out the sun.

"Ugh..." He sat himself up, shaking the stars from his eyes. "What do you think that was all about, Mads?" he received no reply. Dazed and confused, he looked around his immediate environment. He saw rocks, he saw the truck, he saw the dusty canyon arching before him with trails of dust kicked up. But no robot, no Sonic... and no Maddie.

The penny dropped.

"You have got to be kidding me."

..............................................

Sonic furrowed his brow in determination as he chased the rogue machine down the canyon, the blasted thing moving much faster than he would have thought it able.

A Badnik. In his home. Where the hell had this one come from? He thought the last few had become scrap metal ages ago...

Whatever. He couldn't think about that now. All he could do was plough ahead and take this one out before it got away.

It was fast, but he was Sonic the hedgehog. He could take care of this no prob-

"Woah!!"

Sonic stumbled as he narrowly dodged a blaster bolt from the fleeing machine, smoke and dust particles showering him. Damn, either that thing was accurate or he was out of practice, because...

"Sonic?!?"

Sonic faltered as he heard a familiar voice... He followed the direction of his swivelling ears, and his mouth flapped open in surprise.

Right there beside him, keeping pace, was a black hedgehog in a denim jacket, looking utterly bewildered as she matched his speed.

"Mom?!?" 

"Uh... hi, sweetie?" 

Sonic laughed in shock, "how are you keeping up with me?!"

" Uh.... I don't know... " she stared down at her own feet, unable to fathom how she was able to hold a conversation while her boots were flashing beneath her. "I just didn't want you to get hurt, and...." She fought to keep her balance and looked to her son helplessly, clearly struggling to operate at this speed.

"Okay, Mom!" Sonic fell back and closed beside her, like a fighter pilot flanking a stricken wingman. "Just follow me, okay? Head forward like this..." He leaned forward, "and arms behind like this, okay?"

He demonstrated again while she watched, and felt a glimmer of pride as she uncertainly adopted the same posture. 

"Like this?"

"Perfect!!" he flashed his mother a big thumbs up.

She nodded, gesturing in the direction of the fleeing robot. "what do we do about your friend?"

Sonic grinned, seeing the glimmer in his mother's eyes.

"Just stick with me!!" He called back, "we're gonna take this sucker down!!"

...............................................

"Come on, come on you piece of shit...."

Tom angrily wrenched the key in the ignition of the truck, wondering exactly what he had done for the fates to curse him with so much stalling right now. The engine whined pathetically, before winding down into silence. He tried again. 

"Come on, please... I'll clean you, I'll vacuum you, I'll get you detailed, just please... just... START!!!"

The huge truck finally roared to life, and an ecstatic grin split Tom's face.

"It's alive! IT'S ALIVE!!!"

He revved the engine and the old truck snarled like a beast.

"Hold on guys, I'm coming..." Tom clocked the vehicle into gear, stomped into the accelerator, then swung the thing around and tore off in pursuit. "I'm coming..."

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"MOM!!!"

Maddie screeched in alarm as she hopped away from another laser blast, dust and rock fragments coating her fur as she shot through. She felt something hot on her arm, and frantically patted at the singed left arm of her jacket. Sonic fell back and flanked his mother, eyeing her worriedly.

"Mom! Are you okay?"

"You son of a bitch!!" She screamed angrily after the offending machine, "I got this on sale!!"

Sonic looked to the Badnik and back to his mother. She was fast, but he hadn't taken into account that she hadnt done this before. He couldn't put her in any more danger.

"Mom, stay out of range of that gun!" He called to her, hanging back at her speed. "I'll move forward and-"

"Shut up, son!!" she growled in reply and shot him a wild look. " I'll draw its fire, you take it out!! "

With that, she pulled away with a sudden burst of speed that left even Sonic eating dust.

"Oh god..." The blue hedgehog groaned, before he leaned into another burst of acceleration, "What have I created?!"

............................................

"OW! JESUS CHRIST!!!"

Tom bounced harshly in the seat of the truck, as he gunned it down the canyon after the speeding pursuit. The radio blared out some cock-thrusting rock song or another, having been set to Tom's personal playlist on the drive down here, and right now the dishevelled hedgehog was far too preoccupied with trying to keep the wheels on the ground and the shades on his face to turn the damn radio off.

_"Nobody gonna take my car, gonna race it through the gro-ound..."_

"God dammit!!" He screamed in alarm as the passenger wing mirror was snapped off by a passing rock. It was like riding a bucking bronco trying to drive down here at these speeds. He couldn't imagine how Sonic was able to speed down these canyons as fast as he did on foot.

_"Nobody gonna beat my car, it's gonna break the speed of sound... "_

And now, of course, was Maddie.

"I get turned into a freaking space hedgehog..." He grumbled as he dropped a gear, his heart skipping as he felt an unfortunate scrape from the undercarriage, "and I _don't_ get any powers?! What kind of bull is that?!?"

He stomped down on the accelerator and cranked up a gear as the road ahead smoothed out again. "Just hold on guys..." He repeated, adjusting his shades and gripping tightly to the wheel, "I'm on my way..." Nothing was going to stop him from getting to his family .

_"Alright, hold tight, I'm a high-way staaaaaaaaar!!"_

He hit a pothole in the road and slammed back in his seat, tail twisting in an unfortunate direction.

"GOD DAMMIT OW!!!"

.............................................

Another high powered blaster shot rocked the earth, and Sonic felt his heart drop in his chest as he saw his mother enveloped by the blast. Relief washed over him as he saw she was still running, still doggedly drawing the Badnik's fire.

This had gone on too long. It was time to finish the fight.

Maddie stumbled from the nearby blast, but regained her composure and leaned back into the running posture her son had shown her. She didn't know how She was doing this... it was as though her legs were a separate entity and she was just along for the ride, and adrenalin was pumping her full of an insatiable desire to smash this thing that had tried to harm her family.

The machine tracked her with its rearward turret, focused entirely on destroying the speeding black hedgehog that ceaselessly dodged all of its attacks. It was too fixated on its current target to notice the blue blur that approached like a rocket on its left.

Maddie watched as her son shot past her, defying gravity as he ran along the canyon wall, then launching into the air and smashing into the fleeing robot like a missile. Sparks flew and warning alarms blared as the machine's anti-grav generators were busted, and it finally dropped from the air and slammed into the ground. It skidded along the canyon floor with a metallic screech, eventually coming to a halt in a widened area beside a cliff edge. Sonic returned to flank his mother as they slowly came to a stop before the downed machine.

They shared a glance, covered in dirt and breathing heavily, maintaining an incredulous stare for a few moments before slowly sliding into a laughing fit.

"Holy crap, mom!!!" Sonic cheered , raising his hand for a high-five, "that was totally awesome!!!"

"What the hell is that thing?!" Beamed Maddie, hopping into her son's high -five and gesturing to the smoking bot. 

"A whole pile of scrap metal now!" Laughed Sonic, setting his hands on his hips "thanks to the work of two super cool hedgehogs!!"

Their victory was short lived however, the sound of auxiliary generators and mechanical squealing sounding from beside them. Slowly, mother and son looked over to find the previously non-functioning machine shifting and transforming, armoured panels rearranging and insect-like hull raising itself up on a pair of steel legs.

"Mom?" Sonic gulped, as they both stepped back from the revived machine. "I think we're gonna need a new plan..."

................................................

"Mom, get outta here!!!" Sonic yelled as he rapidly shoved his mother out of the way of another energy bolt, the revived machine clumsily stumbling about as it tracked them with its back up weapons.

"What about you?!" Cried Maddie as her son deposited her behind a rock. "You aren't gonna fight that thing alone?!? " 

Sonic flashed her a confident grin. "Watch me!"

With that, he sped back into the fight.

Sonic ducked and rolled as bolts peppered the air around him, jumping into high cover atop a nearby ledge. He noticed with dismay that the bot had come to a stop just before the cliff edge. A few more metres and the now flightless machine would have plummeted to its doom.

A plan formed. He guessed he'd just have to help it along.

Maddie watched as Sonic bounced and leapt from the surrounding rocks and walls of the canyon, tucking into ball form and slamming into the robot over and over. She saw what he was trying to do - use the impacts of his spinning dash to force the machine over the cliff - but the thing barely budged, the lone hedgehog lacking the momentum to get the job done alone. Still, she rooted for her son, taking note of the way he tucked himself in and smashed into the thing like a wrecking ball. He might not need to push it over the edge, she thought. The continuous impacts of Sonic's spin attacks might be enough to break the robot apart - until a laser bolt finally clipped the blue hedgehog, stealing his momentum, causing his body to smack limply against the armoured machine and sprawl into the sand. Maddie felt the rush of maternal hormones, and she rushed from her cover with the unstoppable need to protect her son.

"SONIC!!! "

................................................

" Well, big guy... " Sonic grunted painfully, gripping his burned arm as he slowly dragged himself to his feet. The machine stood before him, main processor cocking quizzically at the downed hedgehog. "You're pretty tough, I'll give you that..."

The machine offered no reply. All it did was emit a mechanic whirring as its weapons focused on the hedgehog again. Sonic braced himself, ready to dodge, unsure if in his shell-shocked state he would be fast enough... When a dark blur flashed by and slammed into the Badnik's hull like a cannonball. The impact took the machine by surprise and sent it teetering on one foot, bleeping with alarm. The sudden cannonball unfurled and landed clumsily on her feet beside her son, struggling to keep balance.

"Mom?" Sonic said quizzically, "where did you learn to do that?"

"I just..." Maddie blinked rapidly and swayed as though she'd stepped out of a spin dryer, "....watched you!"

Their attention was drawn back to the staggering machine, as it stuttered and sparked, damaged from the fight but otherwise functional. How tough _was_ this thing?

Sonic grinned at his mother and adopted a fighting stance, clenching his fists. "Ready for round two?"

She nodded and copied his posture, "let's finish this bucket of bolts!"

With that, Sonic launched himself again into the failing machine, followed by his mother... then Sonic again... then Maddie... then Sonic... then Maddie... one at a time, two cannonballs pounding into the robot over and over. The momentum of two assailants was just enough to force it closer and closer to the cliff edge, and the thing was unable to track the speeding hedgehogs with its damaged weapons.

Sonic and Maddie planted their feet into the ground as finally, after slamming into it so many times, the machine began teetering at the cliff edge, going over... going over...

Not enough. It regained its balance and crashed back down onto both feet, glaring angrily from its main processor.

"Damn it!!" Cried Sonic the two hedgehogs breathing heavily from the exertion. "How d'you stop this thing?!"

With that, a loud honk echoed from behind them.

Sonic and Maddie turned to find a very dusty and very battered blue truck barreling down the canyon toward them, blaring its horn like a charging beast.

In a flash, Sonic and his mother dashed to either side, allowing the truck a straight shot at the smoking robot. The bot paused for a moment, confused at the sight of the approaching vehicle. It's damaged processor tried to determine whether this new target was friend or foe.

It didn't have long to wonder as the truck's horn blared again, and the bull bars slammed into the robot's legs. The bot staggered fatefully, metal screeching as though the thing were screaming in pain, as it was finally shoved over the edge of the cliff and plummeting to its fate.

Sonic and Maddie looked to one another in disbelief as the dust settled, before the sound of tires clawing in dirt struck them. They flashed over to the battered truck as it's rear wheels scrambled for purchase, guiding the nose of the vehicle back from the abyss and back onto solid ground. The vehicle lurched back onto the road, engine gurgling poorly and trailing its bull bars as it reversed to a halt.

"Tom?"

"Dad!"

Both hedgehogs ran to the drivers side door as the window slowly began to whine open, the sound of seventies rock echoing out into the Mobian canyon. A brown arm leaned on the window, and an extremely dishevelled furry face peeked out.

"So..." Said Tom, voice shaking as he slipped his shades back onto his face, " somebody order an uber? "

..............................................

"CURSES!!!"

The mad doctor roared as he smashed his fists into the console, sparks flying from the force of the blow. His machine... perfectly designed to emulate the abilities of the internal blue hedgehog... ruined! Reduced to scrap!! another failure... another design to scratch from the books...

He screwed his eyes behind red goggles as he rewatched the destroyed machine's battle recordings. Those other two rodents... his machine would surely have succeeded had they not intervened!

He paused and zoomed the image over the blue hedgehog's face - blasted animal. He would get his soon enough.

Then he switched over to the shorter, black-furred creature in the jacket. Female. Unfamiliar. Similar powers to the blue hedgehog. This wouldn't do. He would remember her.

And this one...

He enhanced the image over the cab of the blue vehicle - which appeared of curiously familiar design - and contemplated the brown hedgehog inside. This image showed the hedgehog with dark glasses hanging around its neck, determined expression plastered over its face as it drove the vehicle on a collision course with the robot. The doctor enhanced the image again... achingly familiar blue eyes glared from the screen.

"And who are you, my furry little friend..."

The feeling of familiarity gnawed at him like a parasite. The doctor did not make a habit of socialising with these creatures, but it was just as though he had met this particular rodent before...

He thought he remembered a voice in his head. Something about donuts.

It was of no matter. The doctor did not have time to contemplate the matter. He was finally back on Mobius, and he had plans to make. Vengeance to enact. And a certain blue hedgehog to capture...

He shut the damaged console down - pausing to save the images of these curious new hedgehogs - and walked away. He had a battle to plan.


	3. Heart to hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their encounter with the rogue badnik, the Wachowskis take a short while to consolidate.

"There you go, baby... I think that's enough for one day..."

Tails stood and wiped sweat from his brow with a dirty cloth. Hours of tinkering and he had worked up a lather. Mobian sweat glands weren't as prominent as those of humans, and a whole day spent adjusting the Tornado had taken its toll.

The fox put his tools away and removed his dirty denim overalls and work gloves, flexing his fingers freely after being confined for so long. He sniffed his armpits. Gross! He really needed to take a shower. He looked himself over and found filthy streaks coating his gold and white fur.

"Ah, damn!" He whined, shoulders slumping. "Crap all over me again..."

"Well maybe if you spent less time in this workshop, you'd be a little cleaner..."

Tails jerked at the unexpected voice, ears pricked, and his blue eyes flicked over to his workshop entrance to find a familiar yellow figure in a maroon dress glaring at him.

"Oh, uhh... Zoey!!" stammered the eighteen year old, bringing one of his twin tails around to begin nervously playing with. He'd been putting off talking to her today... It looked as though she had decided to come to him. "What's, uhh... what're you doing here?"

" Oh, just passing... " the fox-girl replied coldly, arms folded over her chest, "thought I would see what you were up to, that's all..."

"Well..." Tails replied, voice shaking, "I was just, uhh... performing some maintenance on the Tornado..."

"Oh, I see!" Replied the female with mock interest. "something important I presume?"

"N... not really, just some minor..."

"What's this?" Enquired the fox-girl, leaning over a table of spare parts.

"That's a... plasma capacitor?" Tails replied, suddenly confused.

"Oh! And what's this?"

"That's a... coolant inductor..."

"Fascinating!" The girl stepped away from the workbench and approached Tails , gesturing between them both. "And what's this, Miles?" Tails quailed under her stony expression. "what are we?"

Tails bowed his head and awkwardly played with his right-hand tail. "We... Uh, we're... foxes?"

"You know exactly what I mean, Miles!" Zoey snapped, tail flicking behind her like an angry viper. "I thought we had something, Miles! Something special! The only two yellow foxes in the region? Together? But I guess not! You've been so distant lately... I don't even know where I stand with you..." Her ears drooped and her eyes began brimming. "Do you even care about me?"

"Care? Of course I care!" It was Tails' turn to snap. "It's just, I don't know if you have noticed, but I've had a little bit of crap to deal with my family lately! Plus, I don't even know how to deal with a... relationship..." He batted the wing of the Tornado, "I can take this thing apart piece by piece and put it back together... but I don't know how to deal with my own stupid feelings..."

Zoey swallowed nervously as his head bowed and his shoulders slumped, twin tails drooping sadly. "And what are your feelings, Miles?"

The fox turned his head and fixed his eyes on her. "I think... I love you, Zoey. I think I love you more than anything. And I just don't know how to deal with it..."

She just stood there. Tails turned and angrily began packing tools into a bag. 

"I'm sorry," he growled, "I shouldn't have said that."

A pair of yellow hands grabbed his shoulders. Zoey spun him to face her and stared at him with brimming eyes.

"Do you mean that?" The fox-girl asked, voice quivering.

Tails blinked hard, and nodded. "Yes," he swallowed and took her hands in his. " I... love you, Zoey. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. "

The two foxes began leaning to one another. 

"Oh, Miles..."

"Zoey..."

"Oh Miles..."

"Oh Zoey..."

_BZZT. BZZT. BZZT._

"Hey little buddy? You there?" The radio of the Tornado blared, Sonic's voice crackling out. "It's your big bro! We've, uh... Kinda had a little situation out here..."

Tails raised his hands to the sky and swore very very loudly at his brother's unfortunate timing.

..............................................

"Don't be a baby..."

"But it's embarrassing..."

"You said it hurt! "

"Yeah, but..."

"It's not that big, I'll only be a minute..."

"I feel so weird about this..."

"Do you want me to take a look or don't you?"

Tom sighed in resignation, as his wife stood hands on hips before him. He relaxed his spines and drooped his ears, putting on his best puppy-dog expression. "Promise you'll be careful?"

Maddie rolled her eyes and spun her finger. "Just turn around, please?"

Tom reluctantly did as he was told and turned his back to his wife.

"Bend over."

Again Tom did as he was told, setting his hands on his knees.

"Okay, I'm going to check..." His wife said gently, as though she were back at her clinic examining an injured animal, "just relax... relax..."

Tom winced as he felt a pair of hands grip his... tail. He felt fingers and thumbs working the bone and cartilidge, feeling for anything broken or inflamed.

"Does anything hurt?" His wife's voice came from behind.

"Only my dignity..." 

"Tom, if you want me to help you have to tell me where it hurts..."

"Okay, there!" He blindly jerked a thumb to the base of his spine, where the appendage joined the flesh and where he had painfully landed several times on the wild chase down the canyon. He was still unused to sitting with the extra appendage in the way. His wife began to massage the area, checking for damage.

"Okay, nothing broken, nothing sprained... you just twisted it."

"You sure?" Tom called over his shoulder, "'cos it hurts like a sonofa-"

"I'm a vet, Thomas. Of course I'm sure. Just... be careful sitting down for a few days."

Tom straightened up and turned back to his wife. "and what about you?" He said, gesturing to a bandage around her left arm.

Maddie shrugged. The injury was a result of a near miss from an energy bolt, which had singed her favourite jacket and burned her arm.

"I'm fine," she replied, glancing at the wound. She had removed the jacket for now and was wearing just her plain black tank top, which in her present form reached almost to her knees. It also clearly displayed the bandage around her arm. "I'm kinda pissed about my jacket, though. You know that thing should have cost fifty bucks?! And I got it for -"

"Maddie, " said Tom, cutting her off. "I don't care about the jacket. I care about you."

She gave him a small smile. "I'm fine baby, it's just a graze..."

"You know what I mean! " said Tom, worriedly gripping her hand tight. "You haven't been yourself... and this... power that you have... are you sure it's not... affecting you in any way? A bad way?"

"No, Tom..." She said a little too fast, her hands squirming uncomfortably in his. "No... in fact, I feel... strong... fast... powerful, like I can do anything... and I think... " she looked back to him with wide brown eyes, tears beginning to form. "I think... whatever happens, Tom, I..." she swallowed hard and pulled her hands away. "I don't think I'm going back to Green Hills, Tom. I'm staying here." she looked away from her husband, wet eyes darting over the floor. "I'm sorry..."

Before Tom could respond, his wife turned away and left the room.

..............................................

Sonic had just been heading to check on his parents, when Maddie almost bowled him over running from their room. 

"Hey mom, you o-"

He faltered as she pushed on by, almost running from the shack with her hands over her face.

"-kay?" worry gripping his heart, Sonic was about to follow when he heard another noise that stayed his feet. From the room, muted and stifled... heartfelt sobbing. Hard yet hushed. The sound of somebody bawling their eyes out yet not wanting to show it.

Oh God. Only one person that could be.

"Dad?" Sonic tentatively creaked open the door and found his father, back to him and hands planted on the wall, shoulders shaking up and down with silent sobs.

Before sonic could say another word, Tom wiped his face and turned toward him, eyes red and sore and peach muzzle stained but otherwise wearing an unconvincing smile.  
"Hey, bud..." The sheriff said, unable to hide the quiver in his voice. "You... what... what's up..."

"Dad? " sonic slowly entered the room and gave his father a look. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah! Yeah, kid... yeah..." The sheriff planted his hands on his hips and attempted a confident pose. He sniffled and began blinking hard. "Just peaches..."

The father and son looked at one another across the room, tension in the air... until Sonic saw his dad visibly to break down.

"Dad, come here..."

Tom launched into his son's arms as the dam burst and he couldn't hold the flood back. He wrapped his arms around Sonic desperately and, still silent, began violently heaving. He made no sound, just held onto his son as if for dear life, shoulders and throat convulsing with hard sobs and tears spattering the floor as pent-up emotion just poured out of the man.

They stayed that way a while, Sonic parting his old man's back for support and hushing reassuredly, until finally Tom stepped back. He looked Sonic up and down with red eyes and tear-streaked face, and gave a small grin.

"You little shit..."

Sonic furrowed his brow in concern. "What?"

Tom held a palm atop his own head, flattening the fur to the skull, then moved it over to Sonic where it met the top of the blue hedgehog's eyes.

"You've got a few inches on me..." 

Sonic snorted with sudden laughter. "I guess we can't all be as tall and handsome as me, dad..."

"I guess not..." Tom sniffled, wiping his face with the back of his forearm. "I don't know what to do, Sonic." He looked to his son with pleading blue eyes, suddenly serious, and scared, reminding Sonic of Tails when he had been small and terrified of thunderstorms.

"I think..." Tom went on, "everything that's... happened to me and your mother... the way she's... changing... I think I'm losing her, Sonic. I think I'm losing her and... I think it's breaking me. I can't live without her, but... " he trailed off, looking down at his hands, frightened of breaking down again.

Sonic just looked at the floor, an icicle spear stuck through his heart.

"It's all my fault..." He whispered , barely daring to breathe. He looked back to his father with brimming emerald eyes. "All my fault... If I hadn't convinced you to come here... if I'd kept my mouth shut... none of this would have happened... everything would still be normal back home... " He sniffled and wiped his nose and the back of his hand. "You must hate me right now... "

Tom stepped forward, fighting back his own tears, and brown hands clapped into blue shoulders.

"Don't you ever say that. _Ever._ There's no way in hell I could ever hate my own son." Tom wore a weak smile and lightly shook the blue hedgehog. "No matter what happens, whatever you do, you'll always be that scruffy little thirteen year old kid I took in as my own ten years ago."

"The one you shot with a tranquilizer?"

"Hey, I thought we agreed to forget that!"

Sonic wiped his face and chuckled. " And whatever happens, you'll always be the big dumb donut Lord... " he replied with a grin. "No matter what you look like."

"Well," said Tom, spreading his arms in gratitude. "Nice to see this hedgehog hasn't been stripped of his honourable title... "

The two males stood in silence a moment, processing their emotional integrity. 

"Now then," began the brown hedgehog, clapping his hands. "Who the hell tried to turn my family into roadkill today?"

..............................................

"We have a situation, " said Tails, punctuating his sentence by leaning forward and smacking both hands on the table. "A Robotnik situation."

Hushed whispers were traded between the occupants of the table, Sonic and Tails having gathered everyone in their little village to brief them on their predicament. Tom and Maddie hovered awkwardly by Sonic, not meeting each others gaze, while Zoey hung from Tails' arm.

"So..." Said Amy, stroking her chin in thought. " Robotnik is finally back... "

"HA! I knew it!!" Sticks , the badger girl, slapped her hands together and wore a triumphant expression. "All along I said he'd be back one day, and none of ya believed me!! 'ooooh, da crazy badger's bein' paranoid again, we banished Robotnik for good years ago, she's totally nuts....' Well now who's crazy, huh?!? Just because I got shrapnel in my brain don't mean I don't know what I'm talkin ' about!!! "

Sonic raised a hand to quiet the raving badger. "Yeah yeah, you were right Sticks, but nobody's calling you- wait, what?!"

The badger didn't reply, simply rocking back and forth in her seat wearing an absent grin.

"Whatever," continued Sonic , "the bot that attacked us today was a model I haven't seen before, but clearly a Robotnik design."

"which means," added Tails, "that Robotnik's back. And he's looking for a fight."

"Uh, excuse me, I have a question? " knuckles, looking comically huge in his seat, uncertainly raised a meaty paw. "This Robotski feller... is he anything like 'ol Eggman? Cause the way you describe him he's a dead ringer. "

There was a pause, as several pairs of eyes looked toward the huge red echidna incredulously.

"Knuckles..." Amy said, gently laying a hand on his bicep, "Robotnik IS Eggman... "

Knuckles furrowed his brow and stared into space, the monkeys in his brain working furiously to process this information.

"Okay," said Tom, raising a questioning finger, "so that government agent guy we marooned on an alien planet ten years ago..." He looked sternly to his sons, one brow raised, "are you telling me you've fought him again since then? "

Sonic and Tails shuffled guiltily, like a pair of kids caught stealing candy.

"Uh... yeah... " said Sonic, one hand running the back of his quills, "a couple o' times...'

"Just a couple of times..." Added Tails, suddenly very interested in his feet.

"And... you didn't think to ever mention that? " said Maddie, for the moment allying with her husband in scolding their kids.

"Aha!" Replied Sonic, index finger raised, "in a manner of speaking, we did!!"

Tom folded his arms, wearing his best disappointed dad look. "'smashing robots? Defeating evil geniuses? Quote unquote, 'the usual?'"

"You got it!"

"We thought you were kidding!" Maddie stepped forward and placed her hands on her son's shoulders and giving him a shake. " You _told_ us you were kidding! "

"If we had known you two were actually in danger..." Tom shook his head, cursing himself for not knowing, "we would have been here in a heartbeat! Dammit, we'd have found a way to protect you! "

Sonic and Tails shared a look.

"We..." Began Sonic.

"Just didn't want you guys to get hurt!" Tails finished, stepping forward determinedly. Zoey let out an affectionate coo at this demonstration of his protective instincts.

"Well that may be, but -"

_FZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!!!_

.............................................

Everybody in the vicinity jumped from their skin as a mechanical whirring filled the workshop. Sonic, Tails, Amy and Knuckles instantly adopted fighting stances, eyes scanning for the source of the threat... and in the centre of the workshop, standing atop the Wachowski family's battered truck,a brown badger held a huge power saw in her hands, which had been the source of the commotion.

"I hate ta break up da little family heart ta heart..." The badger said, powering the blade down, "but if Eggman's back we need ta be ready ta fight! strategize! Raise defenses! Da 83rd didn't survive Mushroom Hill sittin' on our asses an' flappin' our pussies in da wind!! do we got a plan or don't we?!"

Everybody exchanged bewildered glances, by now not even bothering to question the unhinged badger's outbursts.

"The plan..." Said Tails patiently, "is to bunker down and defend our position. If I know Eggman, his next move will be to launch an all-out assault.

"We should call for reinforcements," added Amy , "Shadow and Rouge, the Chaotix..."

"Maybe if we get an inter-dimensional portal working," said Sonic, "I could ask the Blue Bomber for an assist! He owes me. "

Tom and Maddie shared a look, surprised by this sudden demonstration of tactical thinking.

"It's been a while since I put these to good use!" Grinned Knuckles, smacking his meaty fists together. "I could use a good fight!"

"Oh... " Zoey whined, gripping onto Tails' hand, "Miles, I'm worried! "

"It's okay babe..." Replied the fox, putting a comforting arm around the female, "I'll keep us safe..."

Tom and Maddie each raised an eyebrow at _that._

"Well whatever we do people..." Sonic hopped onto the hood of the truck beside Sticks and set his hands on his hips addressing the whole team. "We'd better get to it! Knowing ol' Egghead, he could be on his way to attack us right now!"

The sudden crack of energy weapons and thump of explosions sounded from outside the workshop. Everybody gave Sonic a look.

"Aha..." The blue hedgehog grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "timing could have been better there..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One big chapter full of feels right here, and one upcoming chapter full of smashing robots!


	4. The Battle of Hedgehog Village

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Wachowskis join with Team Sonic to repel an assault by Robotnik forces.

"Tails! Take the Tornado and give us air support!"

"On it!"

"Amy! Knuckles! Sticks! We all know the drill! Let's get out there and smash some badniks!"

Sonic had instantly jumped into leader mode upon gathering his composure, and began directing the others in preparation for the coming fight. The thump of explosions and the clank of machinery could be heard from outside as the invaders began causing as much collateral damage as they could.

"What can we do?"

Sonic looked to find his parents beside him, Tom hands on hips and Maddie slipping back into her battered denim jacket.

Sonic shook his head. "Mom, Dad, I know you want to help but-"

"No buts!" Tom said forcefully, pointing a finger at his son.

"We're helping, Sonic!" Added Maddie, eyes crackling with determination. "Whether you like it or not! "

"That's some fighting spirit!" Called Knuckles, cracking his fists.

"We're gonna need every rifle we can get if we wanna keep 'dose body bags empty!" Cackled Sticks, busy excitedly slipping a pair of safety goggles over her eyes .

"Guys, if you haven't noticed, there's a horde of angry invading robots outside?" Huffed Amy, pointing toward the closed double doors of the workshop.

Sonic looked around, then sighed in defeat. He wasn't going to convince his parents this time.

then he grinned. This was going to be fun.

"Okay, mom!" He said, "you can keep up, so stick with me!" Maddie hopped excitedly at her inclusion. "Dad?" Tom perked his ears and flexed his spines, hands on hips in his sheriff stance. "Tails could use an extra gunner," Sonic pointed over to the bright red biplane, where Tails was busy comforting Zoey before climbing into the pilot's seat. "Think you can handle it?"

Tom looked to the plane uncertainly, then nodded his head in agreement. "Okay... okay, can do!"

"Let's do it, guys!" Sonic called, rallying the expanded team, "we have a fight to win!"

Knuckles hit the door controls, and the team readied themselves for battle. Maddie copied Sonic's fighting stance, Amy hefted a giant hammer she'd retrieved from... somewhere, knuckles raised his fists and cracked his neck, and Sticks yanked the cord to the giant power saw she'd discovered in Tails' workshop.

"83rd Airborne is back, bitches!!!" The demented badger squealed with a huge maniacal grin, raising the saw into the air with a battle cry. "OO-RAH!!!"

..............................................

The mad doctor cackled to himself as he directed his assault forces from his egg-shaped flyer, observing with glee as his egg-bots blasted flimsy wooden shacks into firewood. He looked over to the larger structure as metallic wooden doors began to slide open. He rubbed his hands with anticipation and wore a malicious smile. The real fun was about to begin!"

"Dad!" Tails craned his neck and called behind him to the Tornado's rear turret, where a brown hedgehog was clumsily strapping himself in. "Do you know how to use a machine gun?"

"Miles, I might be a cop but the only time I ever fired at somebody it was your brother! with a tranquilizer!" The sheriff looked with bewilderment at the instruments inside the turret, as the red plane began to hover on underslung anti-grav units. "Why do you even have guns on this thing?!"

"for times like this!" Replied Tails, quickly removing his safety harness and leaning into the turret. He flicked switches and clicked buttons in a pattern that was beyond Tom, before clapping his adoptive father on the shoulder and sliding back into the pilot's seat. "Okay, you're all set!" Called the fox, strapping himself back in an adjusting his flight goggles. "Just point and pull the trigger! And don't miss!"

"Great..." Muttered Tom, having very little confidence in his ability to effectively operate the weapon. 

"concentrate on the aerial units!" continued Tails, checking a final few instruments, "and hold on!"

Tom double checked his safety harness and cried out as the hovering biplane began to accelerate, forward mounted prop spinning madly, wind ruffling his fur as the plane shot through the open double doors like a missile.

...............................................

Maddie stuck close to her son as they sped around the battlefield, the two hedgehogs flanking one another like fighter pilots. Around them, battle robots of various shapes stormed the village, beginning to fire upon the retaliating Mobians. Lemon-shaped bolts of energy flashed all around, lighting up the evening like a disco.

"Mom!" called Sonic, glancing to his mother as they circled the fight, "You remember how to spin dash?"

Maddie nodded uncertainly, "The thing where you turn into a ball and smash them with your body? I think so..."

"Good!" Sonic grinned, flashing her a thumbs up, "then let's break some eggs!"

She followed his lead as they swerved into the battle. Sonic launched himself into the air, tucked into his ball form, and slammed into one of the egg-bots. The machine smashed and crumpled as though it had been shot by a cannon, collapsing in a heap of scrap metal.

She bowed her head and found her own target. Maddie thought back to the fight against the wasp-robot... tried to remember how to 'spin dash'... okay, focus on your target, jump, tuck in...

It was like riding a bike. Now that she'd done it, the instinct just kicked in. Maddie leapt at an egg-bot, curled herself up, and smashed the thing into pieces with a single strike. She bounced away and unfurled, landing clumsily and struggling to maintain her balance, but otherwise it was like she'd been doing it her entire life.

Sonic landed beside her, giving her a big thumbs up. "Nice one, mom! Just like that!"

She grinned as they both put on a burst of speed, looking for more bots to smash.

...............................................

Amy raised her hammer and brought it down upon a beetle-shaped badnik, the impact launching her from her feet, reducing the thing to a flattened heap of smoking metal. Beside her, Knuckles grabbed a pair of wasp-bots from the air, one in each hand, and smashed the two together like they were tin foil. Around them the bots were closing in, but the Mobians were holding them off for now. Another squadron of egg-bots flew apart as Sonic and his mother blasted through them like bowling balls. above, the Tornado ducked and dived while it's guns obliterated swarms of flying bots. Amy slammed the butt of her hammer into another bot and laughed as it landed on its back, struggling to right itself like an upside-down turtle.

"These guys aren't so tough!" she chuckled, wiping oil from her hammer head, "I haven't even broken a nail!"

Suddenly, just inside her field of vision, an egg-bot raised its arm-mounted Buster and fired a charged blast in her direction. Amy reacted just in time. The blast struck the shaft of her hammer, and she tumbled backwards from the implosion. Dazed, the pink hedgehog shook her head and blinked the stars from her eyes as the bot stomped toward her. It regarded her for a moment, emitting a few bleeps and whines before raising its weapon for the final blow.

Amy could only stare with her heart in her mouth.

_"AY!!!"_

Before the machine could fire the fatal shot, a boomerang tapped harmlessly from its hull. The bot turned to find the source of the distraction, and Amy followed its gaze. They were met with the sight of a bloodthirsty badger wearing a malevolent grin, and wielding a huge power-saw.

_"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!!!!"_

The bot turned and desperately began to charge its weapon as the badger charged the thing with a screeching battle cry, but was too slow. The power-saw came down into the bot's hull, Sticks cackling with glee with the squeal of tearing metal as sparks and shrapnel and oil erupted from the machine like giblets until with a final squeal of torment, the bot toppled backwards with a boot to the torso and split in two.

Amy gawped in astonishment as Sticks tossed away the warped and broken blade and trotted over to her fallen comrade.

"Come on, soldier!!" The badger squealed with delight as she helped Amy to her feet, crazy eyes dilating behind protective goggles. Oil from the carved-up bot spattered her entire body like blood. "'dis battle ain't ova yet!!!"

"Sticks..." Gasped Amy as she bent to retrieve her hammer, "when this is all over we need to have a serious conversation about your mental state!'

The badger ignored her, a demented grin plastered over her face as she looked for something else to kill things with.

.............................................

Tom's arms ached from the recoil of the Tornado's rear mounted guns, as he poured fire into another swarm of wasp-bots. The machines burst into flames mid-air, and sparks and shrapnel scattered toward the ground.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this!" Cried the brown hedgehog, head swivelling as he searched for more targets. 

"That's great dad..." Tails replied absently. He was preoccupied with piloting the aircraft through the chaos of attacking bots, and scanning the air for the man he knew had to be around somewhere...

There. An egg-shaped craft surrounded by a protective screen of wasp-flyers. Their target.

"Dad!" Called Tails over his shoulder, "Take a look at this!"

Tom swung around in his seat and looked to where Tails pointed with a white-gloved finger. He furrowed his brow as he laid eyes on the craft.

"Is that him?"

Tails nodded, and glanced to his dad. "Remember that space movie? with the trench run at the end?"

Tom grinned, getting the idea, and clapped his son on the shoulder. "Take us in, yellow leader!"

Tails gunned the Tornado's afterburners and laid a course straight for their target.

................................................

_"Impossible!!!"_

The doctor raged as he monitored his tactical display, seething as he realised almost ninety percent of his assault force had been eliminated. How could this be?! The impudent rodents were heavily outnumbered and outgunned! Defeat should have been mathematically inevitable!!

He would have to retreat, humiliating though it was, and plan his next move. His new stronghold would have to be brought online sooner than he had anticipated.

The doctor began to type commands into his tactical console, entering codes to signal the retreat - when he noticed a familiar red biplane flying straight towards him.

..................................................

Sonic smashed yet another bot into pieces, and realised that the battle was eventually beginning to die down. The rest of the team were busy mopping up stragglers, and the blue hedgehog grinned with pride at the way his friends had held off the overwhelming numbers of attackers.

And it hadn't just been him and his friends this time.

"You okay, mom?" He called, spotting his mother staggering like a drunk after all of the spin-dashing she'd been doing. She wobbled for a moment, then smiled and gave a tentative thumbs-up when she noticed her son.

"I think so..." she replied breathlessly, taking the moment to look around her at the bot-strewn beach. "Did we... did we win?"

Sonic waited until Knuckles finished battering apart one bot with the limbs torn from another before replying.

"I think we did, mom!" He grinned, returning her thumbs-up with a wink and one of his own.

"Sonic..." Amy lay a hand on his shoulder and pointed into the sky. "Where's your brother going?"

They all looked to see a red biplane approaching an egg-shaped craft, guns blazing as it chipped away at a defensive screen of bots.

................................................

"Curses! Blast you, you infernal canine!" The doctor cursed as the plane swung around him, guns chattering and bullets peppering the shields of his flyer. His protective screen of Badnik's had been wiped out by the elusive aircraft, and he clumsily attempted to steer his own craft away from the fight, anti-grav boosters overheating from exertion.

The doctor still had one trick up his sleeve, however.

"Dodge this, fox-boy!!" The doctor sneered.

"Keep it up dad, his shields are almost down! " Tails called to his father in support as he brought the plane around for another strafing run. Robotnik's craft had to be failing by now with all of the fire they'd laid into it, and Tails couldn't wait to see the look on the doctor's face when he was captured. Even with the element of surprise, and numbers on his side, Eggman still couldn't hope to beat team Sonic!

"Miles?" Tails heard his gunner call, uncertainty in his voice, "why is that thing glowing?"

Tails' heart stopped as he looked to the doctor's flyer. The shields surrounding the craft were glowing, gathering energy, blue plasma forming into a single crackling eye that followed their movement.

He instantly knew what was about to happen.

"Dad!" Called the fox, flipping instruments as he prepared to wrench the aircraft into evasive manoeuvres, "brace yourself!"

"What's going on?!"

"Just hold on, dad! And don't look at the light!!"

"Miles, I think that thing's about to-"

_CRASH._

Tails lurched in his seat as a blast of energy hit the plane, and he wrestled with the controls as they pitched into a nose dive.

"We're going down!" The fox cried as warning alarms blared and instruments sparked inside the cockpit, "brace for a hard landing!"

"DAD! TAILS!! " Sonic yelled in shock, before sprinting away in a blue whirlwind. Maddie couldn't move, couldn't tear her eyes away, could only watch in horror as a beam of light lanced into the plane - and a brown shape was blasted from its seat, plummeting toward the ground.

"Tom..." Paralysed, Maddie could barely whisper as the brown shape fell, and an enormous cloud of smoke erupted from the ground with the impact of the plane.

................................................

"Sonic? Miles? Tom?" 

Maddie called as she and the others neared the crash site. so much smoke and dust had been thrown up by the downed machine it was as though a meteorite had struck. She dropped to her knees in terror, a spear shoved straight through her heart as the unthinkable ran through her mind. 

"It's okay, Maddie..." Amy knelt beside her and wrapped her in a comforting hug. "They'll be okay, they always are..."

Sticks and Knuckles had ploughed ahead into the smoke, searching for the missing Wachowskis. Eggman had vanished, using the cover of the crash to make his escape.

"Look!" whispered Amy, and Maddie's heart leaped as familiar shapes began to emerge from the fog. 

Knuckles, carrying a limp yellow figure in his arms. Sticks, helping along a limping blue hedgehog. And...

Nothing. Nobody else. No Tom.

"Oh god, Miles..." Maddie instinctively rushed over to the yellow bundle in Knuckles' arms, feeling for a pulse. It was there. Faint, but there.

"He's out like a light," said the huge echidna, "but he'll be alright."

"He'll be fine!" Added Sticks, streaked with oil and hefting a scavenged blaster on one shoulder. "Y'know, back in da war I was brain-dead for three hours! Three _hours!!_ Doctors said I'd never be da same again! But look at me now!! HA! shows ya what 'dey know! All reptilians anyway..." 

Maddie ignored the unhinged oil-covered badger and looked to Sonic, grabbing his arm in desperation. "And your father?"

Sonic looked her straight in the eye, wearing the darkest expression she had ever seen from her blue son.

"Robotnik." He growled, brow furrowed. "He's been taken by Robotnik."

...............................................

"Curses! Blast! Drat and DOUBLE DRAT!!"

The doctor cursed loudly as he brought the craft to a stop. His sensor arrays detected no sign of pursuit, and his engines required time to cool from the stress of the battle.

"Those infernal, miserable, utterly detestable creatures!!!" He snarled, "An entire legion of troops reduced to scrap, and as always I am no closer to capturing that impudent blue rodent!! What must I do to rid myself of these vermin?!? "

He tapped his display and looked toward the extendable claw arms produding from the bow of his craft.

"Still," he huffed. "I may be able to find a use for this one..."

In the tight grip of the machine's telescopic arms, kicking and struggling, dangled a brown hedgehog with angry blue eyes.

.................................................

"Humph," huffed Robotnik, as he watched the rodent squirm in his machine's grip, "it's almost endearing how you hopelessly attempt to escape. Do you seriously believe you will break free? How pathetic."

The brown hedgehog grit its teeth and clawed at the clamps around its neck, staring daggers at the doctor with those blue eyes. 

"Nngh... screw you, you... son of a... bitch..."

"What?! You inferior little upstart!!" The doctor snarled, jabbing a gloved finger toward the struggling hedhehog, "how dare you insult me in such a-"

The doctor paused. A wave of recognition washed over him as he realised this was the same hedgehog from the chase in the canyon. The one driving the vehicle.

The one with the... _familiar_ eyes.

And there was something else, too...

"Hmm..." The doctor mused, stroking his moustache thoughtfully while his brain worked. "You seem very familiar... have I threatened to eliminate you before?"

The brown hedgehog released a noise that almost sounded like a laugh.

"Nngh... maybe I... was a real good friend of your... your mother's..."

Robotnik didn't reply, instead checking his translation software. This hedgehog hadnt spoken in the usual infuriating language of the species. Instead, this one had insulted him in another language. A clumsy language that originated from a planet long in the doctor's past.

What's more - he recognised that voice. It triggered memories. He remembered... Earth. United States. Montana. A small pissant town with an obnoxious sheriff. A fist to the face and...

The voice played in his head, suddenly as clear as It had been ten years ago. _"I'm the donut lord, you son of a-"_

Robotnik whipped off his glasses and leaned forward in tense disbelief. The brown hedgehog squirmed as realisation hit the doctor like a truck.

"No..." The doctor said, shaking his head but not breaking eye contact. "It can't be..."

The hedgehog went limp, still glaring at the doctor with those eyes.

"Wa... Wachowski..." The doctor thrust a finger at the hedgehog, unable to contain his pleasured surprise, "Thomas... Michael... Wachowski?!"

The hedgehog squirmed.

"Nngh... that's... Sheriff Wachowski... to you..."

A malicious grin split the doctor's face.

"Oh my..." Robotnik slammed his hands on his console, and he cackled with malevolent glee at the revelation.

"Oh my! Oh my word, this is RICH!!!" The doctor continued laughing maniacally for so long that it seemed he wouldn't stop, until he leaned forward and began examining the dangling brown hedgehog like a cat studying a cornered mouse.

"Well well... Sheriff Wachowski..." The doctor tapped at his console and Tom clawed at the clamps around his neck as he was raised up. "I must say..." continued the doctor, "the years have done some... interesting things to you..."

"I... had an allergic reaction..." Came the pained reply.

"Well, I was hoping to capture that infernal blue hedgehog... but this... this is almost better!" cackled the doctor.

"You leave my son out of it you-"

"SON?!" Robotnik clapped his hands and squealed with delight, "Son?!? Oh, it gets better! Oh sherrif, did you become so attached to the little creature that you decided to become one yourself? Have a little... transition? I must say, your surgeon does... impressive work.. "

"Nngh... I'll refer you to him... " Tom spat, glaring at the doctor's huge egg-shaped belly, "maybe he could... help shift some of that weight..."

The doctor simply leaned forward and grinned evily at his prisoner. 

"You can snark all you like, sheriff..." Robotnik grinned, "but I have a little plan in store for you..." The doctor tapped commands into his console and the flyer began to ascend above the trees. "What say you join me for a little stay? I have a cell just the right size for you, my... furry little friend!"

Tom struggled as they rose above the trees, his feet kicking uselessly in the red and white sneakers his son had given him. "My family will come for me... Robotnik..." He grunted, the ground shrinking beneath him.

"Good!" The doctor cackled, setting a course for the ocean, "I'm counting on it!!"


	5. aftermath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Tom captured by Eggman and their village in ruins, Team Sonic make plans for a daring counter assault...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick heads up, there's an f-bomb in this chapter for anyone who cares about that sort of thing.

Everything was ruins.

The tiny village that Sonic and his friends called home lay broken and burning, smoke drifting and the carcasses of dozens of smashed Badnik's littering the battlefield. The only structure left standing was Tails' workshop, which was fortified against such an attack, and had been largely ignored in the first stages of the assault as Robotnik's forces focused on the dwellings. Hoping to take out any unaware targets that may have been within, no doubt.

Maddie stood and observed the carnage, denim jacket hugged close around her shoulders and tears in her eyes. Her husband, the man she most held dear, had been taken. By the same lunatic that had tried to destroy her boys over ten years ago. And it was her fault.

She cursed herself. If only she had reacted sooner. If only she hadn't insisted on fighting. If only -

"Maddie?"

A feminine voice came from behind and a yellow hand lay on her shoulder. She turned to find Zoey, the fox-girl, looking at her with ears drooped and huge worried eyes.

"Are you okay?"

Maddie tried to speak, but her words caught in her mouth. Suddenly fat tears were welling in her eyes, and she couldn't help but collapse into the girl's arms and begin sobbing heavily. The fox, though taken aback, pulled the hedgehog close and cooed reassuringly as she cried.

"Hey, is everything o- oh god, mom?"

Sonic bolted over in a flash, having been previously searching for his revived brother, and held a comforting arm around his mom.

"It's okay, mom... It's okay..."

Maddie, exhausted from the fight and terrified for her captured husband, allowed herself to be enveloped by the two Mobians and wept.

Eventually the crying died down into sniffles, and Sonic shot Zoey a look.

"Zoe?" He said softly, the fox-girl's ears and eyes swivelling toward him, "I think my mom needs a little company right now... could you... take her somewhere to... y'know, rest a while?

Zoey thought for a moment, and nodded. "Maddie?" she gently took the black-furred hedgehog's face in her hands, "The guys need a few minutes to clear up. I know something we can do together? If you like?"

"No..." Sniffled Maddie, wiping her face on a sleeve, "I can... help..."

"Mom..." sonic lay a hand on his mother's shoulder and have her a squeeze, "I think you've done enough for one day... why don't you go with Zoey and get yourself cleaned up?"

Maddie allowed herself a brief chuckle and ran a hand over her son's face.

"You're just like your father... you know that?"

Sonic grinned weakly. "Pretty much. A little taller and more handsome maybe, but..." 

Maddie raised a scolding finger. "Don't make me choose between my boys, now..."

"Just do as you're told for once?" 

"Okay..." Maddie groaned, suddenly weary. "I could use a... Damn coffee, anyway..."

Sonic watched as his mother began to walk toward the workshop, hugging her jacket around her. He set a hand on the fox-girl's shoulder before she could follow, causing her to give pause.

"Zoey?"

Zoey swallowed apprehensively. "Y... yes?"

The blue hedgehog gave her a knowing wink.

"Welcome to the family!"

She smiled briefly, in understanding, before turning and trotting after her charge.

Sonic dropped his smile as she left. There was still one person he had to speak to.

...............................................

"Scavenge as much of this shit as you can!!" Tails shouted at the others as they heaped broken bots atop one another, angrily storming through the clean-up like a drill sergeant screaming at new recruits. "anything I can use to shove up Robotnik's ass, I want it in my goddamn workshop NOW!!!"

Sonic approached his brother from behind, knowing from his body language and uncharacteristic cussing that Miles was beyond angry. He didn't care. Things needed to be discussed.

"Miles?" Sonic lay a hand on his brother's shoulder. The fox spun around as if he'd been stung - and Sonic recoiled as he was met with wild predatory blue eyes and bared carnivorous teeth.

" _What the FUCK do you want, Sonic?!?_ "

A bolt of fear shot through him at the enraged fox's outburst. Tails, fully grown now, was larger than Sonic, and the hedgehog had never seen him with his blood up like this. He couldn't help but be intimidated by his younger brother right now.

But he held his ground, planting his feet and setting his hands on hips. He wore an unperturbed expression as he stood against the enraged fox.

"We need to have a word," the hedgehog said as evenly as he could.

"What about?" The fox growled, eyeing the hedgehog like prey.

"About," continued the hedgehog, "why you thought it was a good idea to go after Eggman with no support?"

The fox snarled, spittle flying from sharp teeth, and Sonic skipped back, fists raised in self-defense.

The fight didn't happen. Instead, the fox clasped his hands over his mouth, and horror crept into his eyes as he realised what he was doing.

"S... Sonic?"

"Miles?"

"Oh god...'

"It's okay, little buddy..."

" Sonic... "

"C'mere..."

The two brothers embraced, the sudden animosity forgotten, as they instantly changed back into the two best friends that had met as kids so many years ago.

"Sonic... I... I screwed up..."

"No you didnt, little bro..."

" Its my fault... I shouldn't have gone ahead like that... "

"I would have done the same thing..."

" I should've been smarter... "

"I should've been faster..."

The two brothers held their embrace for a short while, saying no more, each understanding of the other after so many years of adventuring and fighting together. Eventually they parted, allowing the other their space again.

"I... dunno what I'd do without you..." Said Tails weakly, rubbing his eyes. "

"Hey," Sonic lightly punched his brother on the arm, "whatever I do, I couldn't do it without my little buddy, right? "

Tails made a noise somewhere between a hiccup and a laugh, the enraged blood-hungry canine from before transformed back into Sonic's newfound eight year-old little brother. 

"Is... Mom okay?" Said the fox, scared big blue eyes fixed on Sonic.

"she's fine... " replied Sonic, before a mischievous smile crept into his lips, "she's just having a moment with my future sister in-law..."

"Oh..." Sniffled the fox, "that's good... "

It took the yellow fox a moment to process what his brother had just said.

"You..." He raised a finger and pointed toward Sonic, outraged. "How did... How did you...? who told-"

"Just call it an older brother's intuition!" chuckled Sonic, hands on hips. "

" I'm gonna kill you... "

"Ha! You'd have to catch me first, bro!"

" I'm gonna kill you! "

Instead of killing each other, the two brothers embraced in another, far more playful hug, sonic reaching up to ruffle the fox between the ears.

"Okay," said Sonic, as they stepped out of the hug, "I think it's time we made a plan to get our dad back!"

..............................................

"Don't I at least get a phone call?"

Tom leaned against the cold wall of his cell, arms wrapped around his knees as he shivered with cold. His eyes darted around the ceiling and the corners of the metallic prison, searching for the hidden cameras that he knew had to be observing him. He didn't know how long he had been here, or how long he was going to remain, but he wasn't going to be polite.

"I wanna talk to my lawyer!" He called, ears perked for a response. Taunting Eggman was the only thing keeping him going right now.

"You know, you're not exactly 'cell'ing me on this accommodation, egg face..."

"Oh be silent, you contemptible little beast..."

Tom's ears pricked as, at last, footsteps echoed outside his cell, a familiar mad scientist approaching flanked by a pair of egg-shaped robots. 

"Hey, Robotski! I didn't know it was visiting hours!" Tom stood and spread his arms wide, wincing as aches and pains lanced through his body. He grit his teeth. There was no way he was going to show weakness in front of this man. He winked. "Miss me, honey?"

Robotnik shot him a malicious grin in response.

"Well then, sheriff... tell me, are we enjoying our stay so far?" The doctor leaned over, condescendingly lowering himself to Tom's height and speaking as though he were talking to a child. "Is there anything I could provide you to furnish your... habitat? some straw and an exercise wheel, perhaps? "

"Well seeing as you're offering, a six pack and a cable tv? I don't wanna miss the game. Oh, and my slippers! The ones with the Mickey mouse ears. "

Robotnik sneered. "Perhaps I'll have a tiny prison outfit manufactured for you! With the black and white stripes? You would be so adorable..." He then stood to address one of his escort bots, hands clasped behind back. "What do you say, EB-426? do you think that would be suitable for our little friend?"

"AFFIRMATIVE." Rumbled the bot.

"Wow! It talks!" Tom said, raising his hands in mock astonishment , "does it do anything else? Make coffee? Take voice messages? Can it run Doom?" The sheriff leaned toward the energy field of the cell, adopting a sly grin. "Satisfy any... other needs?"

"It can reduce you to a smouldering pile ash, you contemptible little pest." Grumbled Robotnik, becoming tired of the back and forth.

"I don't know about that one..." Replied Tom, stroking his chin thoughtfully, "maybe a cup holder?"

"SILENCE!!!" The doctor barked, causing Tom to recoil and involuntarily droop his ears. The scientist glared down at the brown hedgehog with disgust.

"It's very interesting, sheriff..." Mused the doctor, stroking his moustache. "All of my readings suggest that nothing human remains of you... it's as though you were born in that... curious little form of yours..."

"Well at least I kept my good looks... more than some of us can say... " Tom snarked.

The doctor ignored him, retrieving a pad-like device from his jacket.

"I presume this one is your lovely wife?"

Tom's heart stopped as Robotnik turned the device toward him, a still image of Maddie in hedgehog form on the display. He glared at the doctor, fists clenched. Fun and games were over.

"I remember her now, from our first altercation on our honeworld..." The doctor continued, his face splitting into a leering grin. "It's such a shame... she was quite a handsome woman as I recall... now just another rodent...

Tom said nothing, quietly seething, claws digging into his palms.

"From the information I have gathered, she appears to have developed similar powers to your... Son..." He smiled mockingly. "can you imagine, sheriff... how much power could not one, but two super powered rodents generate? If they were to be... captured?"

"When I get out of here..."

"Oh, don't be stupid..." Robotnik snapped, waving a dismissing hand, "You aren't going anywhere. Even if I were to drop this energy barrier this instant... " the doctor lightly jabbed at the prison cell's restraining field with a finger, small waves of energy rippling away from the tip, "I have hundreds of troops on board ready to disintegrate any mischievous little hedgehogs who decide to take an unsupervised stroll. You aren't leaving this ship alive. "

The doctor leaned over Tom, teeth bared beneath his crazy moustache "Perhaps I'll keep you as a pet..." He leered, "You, your wife, and that infernal blue rodent. One happy little family of hedgehogs, all in a cage... wouldn't that be precious? You would make for a fine conversation piece... the others will have to be disposed of, of course. Except maybe for the yellow canine. Perhaps I can alter his brain sufficiently as to make a useful laboratory assistant... "

Tom roared with rage, teeth bared and spines raised as he slammed both fists against the crackling energy barrier.

"I'll kill you, you bastard!!" The brown hedgehog snarled, "I'll tear your goddamn throat out!!!"

"Oh-hoo!!" The doctor guffawed with delight and applauded the display like a pleased child. "I love your moxie, sheriff!! Unfortunately for you you aren't in much of a position to kill anybody. Much less 'tear my goddamn throat out '." Robotnik leaned over again and gave Tom a little wave. " Now be a good little pet and stay quiet. I have a ship to launch... " he began to walk away, pausing to shoot Tom a malevolent grin. "Oh, and do try to calm yourself? You appear to be quite on-hedge... "

Tom glared angrily as the cackling doctor walked away, then collapsed to his knees and buried his face in his hands.

..............................................

The Mobian moon hung in the night sky, casting its light over the island and the ocean surrounding it. Waves lapped peacefully, the moon's reflection warping in the fluctuating sea.

And then the waves got bigger.

The sea became rough, large waves crashing away from a huge shape as it displaced the water, foam and froth bubbling from rising air and movement from below the surface.

Eerily, silently, the enormous hull of an artificial structure broke the surface like a breaching whale. Armoured steel panels drizzled with seawater, and huge anti-grav engines heaved the beast from its watery prison. The massive machine slowly climbed into the skies above the Mobian ocean, coming to anchor hundreds of feet above water level.

Sausage shaped, bristling with weapons and sporting huge red fins and the sneering effigy of the moustachioed doctor at its bow, the newly launched Egg-Zeppelin hung ominously in the skies before the island, blocking out the moon's light.

...............................................

"So..." the black and red hedgehog muttered, voice low and gruff, "what's the plan?"

The whole of Team Sonic had once again gathered in Tails' workshop, an emergency briefing having been called upon the emergence of the huge ship that now hovered with intent over the Great South Sea.

"The plan," replied Sonic, "is that we board that thing and get my dad back. "

The team had also been joined by the only reinforcements available to them at this time - Shadow, and his own adoptive human father, Wade Whipple. They had returned after a brief visit back to Earth, accompanied by a very flirtatious leather-clad white bat.

Rouge, curious to see the human homeworld for herself, had accompanied the Whipples on their trip back to Green Hills. Shadow had allowed it so long as she behaved herself - which, judging by the exhausted behaviour of the two males, she hadn't.

"Yeah, that sounds great dude..." Said Wade, running a hand over tired eyes, "But that thing's the size of a battleship! what the hell are a few of us gonna do against that? "

"Oh, Wade-ey..." rouge breathed seductively, stroking the human's arm, "you're so good at recognising these important observations..."

"Get off me!!" Wade cried, wrenching his arm away from the giggling bat-woman. He pointed a stern finger toward his hedgehog son. "Shadow, this woman is never coming to our home ever again!"

Shadow didn't reply, simply burying his face in his hands.

"Oh, Whipply-bipply..." The bat teased, leaning toward him in her low-cut top, "After all we went through together, you know you'd miss me if-'

"Can you please..." Snapped Maddie, glaring at the bat with angry brown eyes, "Shut. Up?"

Rouge shot the black-furred hedgehog an ice-cold glare, but nevertheless folded her arms and tightly closed her mouth.

"I like 'dis lady!" hissed Sticks, whispering to a snoozing Knuckles.

"Miles. Sonic." Maddie continued , looking to her sons. "Do we have a plan to rescue your father?"

The fox and the hedgehog shared a quick look.

"Yeah, we have a plan..." smirked Sonic, clapping his brother on the shoulder. "Tails, you wanna do the honours?"

...............................................

"Okay..." Said Tails, pointing to a computer projection of the newly emerged airship. "I have determined that our father is being held captive on this ship. His life signs were detected in this area, which I have dubbed 'the brig'. "

The team gathered around the horizontal table-display, multicoloured faces illuminated in the soft blue light. 

"The ship is surrounded by anti-warp fields. Which means we can't teleport in using rings..." continued Tails .

"Or Chaos Control." Added Shadow, arms folded over his biker jacket.

"Which means," The fox said, hands on hips, "we have to go in by air."

"Hell yeah! " Screeched Sticks, clapping her hands together with glee, "good ol' fashioned aerial assault! I'm ya girl for 'dat!!"

"Tails..." Said Amy, stroking her chin, "those defenses are strong... even if we can get the Tornado fully repaired, there's no way it can survive a direct attack alone! Let alone transport a large enough boarding party!"

"Well, for a start the Tornado _will_ be fully operational in time for the attack!" Said Sonic , a confident grin on his face, "and it's job will be air support, not transportation!"

"Air support for what?" Enquired Shadow.

"I'm glad you asked! " replied Tails. "firstly for you and Rouge! You two can fly independently, so your job will be to infiltrate and search for our dad, causing whatever trouble you can along the way!"

"Sounds like fun... " mused the bat-woman, nudging a very flustered Wade with her foot while Shadow wasn't looking.

"and secondly..." The fox continued, "for the boarding party, which will consist of Sonic, Knuckles, and... Mom..." He looked worriedly to his mother, who flashed him a confident thumbs-up.

"And how... " said Amy, eyebrow raised, "are we going to do all of that using only the Tornado?"

"Oh," replied Tails with a sly grin, moving over the workshop floor , "we aren't just using the Tornado..."

The fox came to a stop beside the Wachowski family's battered old truck, and patted the vehicle affectionately.

"What do you say, mom?" Grinned Sonic, "pimp your ride?"

Maddie beamed as she realised what her boys were suggesting, and extended a finger toward Tails.

"You turn that thing into a freaking gunship!" She said.

"Oh... I have some ideas..." Tails replied, eyeing the vehicle greedily.

"Alright! Infiltrate and annihilate!!" Squealed Sticks, swinging a wrench around like a club, "lemme at 'dose scrap -heads! I gots some ass ta kick an' some gum ta not chew, an' I'm _all done wid' not chewin' 'dat ass!!!_ "

"This... can only end well, I'm sure... " sighed Amy, pinching her nose.

"I... approve of this strategy..." Said Shadow, mouth curling into a smirk.

"Freakin' A!" Agreed Wade, holding his fist out for a bump, which his adopted hedgehog son only somewhat reluctantly returned.

"Oh... please be careful..." Squeaked Zoey, who hadn't appeared in this scene yet.

"And that's the plan!" finished Tails triumphantly setting his hands on his hips. an excited tension had descended over the room, and the team couldn't wait to get started. "It'll be dangerous, but we're Team Sonic! We can do anything!"

A chorus of cheers agreed with him.

"Just one last thing..." Said Sonic. "Knuckles? did you get any of that? "

The muscular red echidna continued staring into space for a few moments, before his brain registered that he was being addressed.h

"Oh, uh... black two sugars and eggs over-easy. I got it."


	6. Egg Zeppelin 1

"Dad. You aren't coming with us, and that's final."

Wade Whipple petulantly folded his arms over his Hawaiian shirt and pouted while, before him, a shoulder-tall black and red figure in a leather biker jacket wore much the same pose.

Around them, the rest of team Sonic were busy scrambling around the workshop, making final preparations for the assault on Eggman's ship.

"He's my best friend, Shadow..." The cop huffed, staring his adopted son down. "I have every right to help save him!"

"Now now..." a shorter, white-furred figure sauntered over , hands on hips, happily watching the two males glared at one another. She came to a stop beside the human and ran a finger down a fleshy arm. "You know I don't like to see my boys fight..."

Shadow fixed the sadistically mischievous bat-woman with a look that could melt steel, while the human began to nervously orbit away from her.

" _Go. Away_." The hedgehog snarled.

The purple leather-clad bat stuck her tounge out at him and shot the embarrassed human a wink before doing as she was told.

"Dad..." Shadow continued, " I know you want to help, but-"

"Damn right I wanna help! We've been best friends since elementary!" Wade cut him off, pushing back the memory of a fourth-grade Wachowski rescuing a first-grade Whipple from the school bullies while sitting alone in the cafeteria. "We're like brothers! I ain't sitting this out!!"

"Dad..."

The two whipples paused as a yellow and white figure approached, flight goggles tucked just in front of pointed ears.

"Okay guys..." Said Tails, tired blue eyes apprehensively flicking between his 'uncle' and 'cousin'. "We're set to launch in half an hour. We all set?"

"Oh, we're all cocked and loaded, honey..." Rouge circled back, playfully flicking at one of he fox's twin tails. "We're just having a little... family discussion... "

Tails' face morphed into an expression of utter bewilderment, while Shadow pinched the bridge of his nose and Wade slapped both hands into his face.

Shadow sighed and again attempted to talk sense into his adoptive father. "dad, I know you want to fight..." he did his best to ignore the purple miscreant as she whispered something into his fox-cousin's ear, "but it's dangerous. The rest of us, even Maddie in her present state, can move and fight far faster than you ever could..."

"I can still fight..." Wade lightly gripped the pistol holstered around his hip. Shadow shook his head.

"More truthfully..." The hedgehog awkwardly shuffled his rocket-boots, hands shoved in jacket pockets. "I... don't want you to get hurt. I... couldn't live with myself if anything... happened to you..."

Rouge emitted a sound of pure adoration, while Tails waited impatiently.

Wade sighed and unclipped his holster. 

"Then take this..." He said, handing the weapon to Shadow.

"Dad, I already have a weapon..." Shadow opened his jacket to reveal a chunky high-caliber weapon holstered inside.

"It's not for you..." Wade shoved the weapon into the hedgehog's hands, "it's for Tom."

shadow looked down at the weapon and nodded. "I understand."

Wade clapped his son on the shoulder, wearing a weak smile. "Tell him to stick one in that Robotnik bastard, will you?"

Shadow nodded, and the two embraced in a tight hug.

"He careful, son..."

" will do, dad... "

Rouge smiled with bliss and leaned in to whisper again in the Fox's ear.

"Aren't my boys precious?" The bat hissed, hands clasped together .

a very confused Tails just shook his head. "Im... not even going to ask.."

"'dat's one crazy bat-lady..." Muttered Sticks from nearby, while she happily carved a screaming skull into the tin plate of a combat helmet acquired from somewhere in the unhinged badger's past. Beside her, an oblivious red echidna snoozed peacefully.

.............................................

"Okay..." Tails adjusted his harness and scanned the cockpit of the assault vehicle, making sure everything was working properly inside the untested machine. "Everything checks out..." He turned to look at the nervous faces in the rear. "Everybody ready?" 

Sonic, Knuckles, and Maddie, were all strapped into the rear seat.

Sonic grinned determinedly, legs bouncing. "Born ready, Tails! Knux?" The echidna simply nodded, an expression of extreme nausea plastered over his face. "I... hate flying..." "Would you like me to show you some breathing techniques?" Said Maddie, comically small next to the muscular echidna. "help with the airsickness?"

Knuckles shook his head. "It's okay, miss Wachowski... I already know how to breathe..."

Amy's voice crackled from the communications unit in the cockpit.

_"Tails? The Tornado's fired up and were ready to launch on your word..."_

_"Oo-rah!!!"_ another voice screeched through the radio, causing everybody in the vicinity to flinch. _"We're on the express elevator to hell, baby!!!"_

"That's great Amy..." Tails replied, ignoring Sticks' usual outburst. "Take her out and we'll follow you... and good luck!"

_"You too, Tails!"_

Tails reached his hands up and lowered his flight goggles, glancing back at his passengers as the vehicle began to vibrate. He grinned at his adoptive mother. "You think Tom's gonna like what I did with the truck?"

"As long as it works, Miles..." The black- furred hedgehog squished between the red echidna and her blue son gripped onto her harness for dear life. "I couldn't care less what your father thinks... "

"Mom, you're talking to the best engineer on Mobius!" sonic laughed, giving his mother a playful pat on the shoulder. "It's gonna work!"

Maddie nodded grimly to her orange son. "Let's go get your father back."

Tails flashed a quick thumbs-up and turned back to the controls. It was time for this bird to spread its wings.

...........................................

The Wachowski family truck, battered and smashed after its ordeal in the canyon, had been reborn. 

The wheels were gone, replaced with thrumming anti-grav units that slowly began to lift the vehicle off of the concrete floor of tails' workshop. Two stubby wings, sporting rack of missiles and additional lift units, were fused to the roof of the vehicle. The entire body, save for the hood and the grill, had been reworked and armoured to support its new flight and combat capabilities. A chin-mounted blaster swivelled, and a cluster of boosters were built into the trunk, ready to launch the hastily modified craft into the air.

Beside it, the sleek red frame of the repaired Tornado accelerated out of the workshop and into the sky. Slowly, like a baby bird taking its first flight, the flying brick that had been dubbed the 'Hurricane One' ignited its rear thrusters, and launched itself after its red sister, ready to deliver its cargo to the huge steel monstrosity that hovered over the horizon.

..............................................

Robotnik cackled with glee, swivelling in his chair before an array of tactical monitors. The fools had begun their attack! a single primitive red aircraft, undoubtedly crewed by the blue hedgehog and his canine brethren, was on an intercept course with the Egg Zeppelin. Idiots. What good would a single light aircraft be against -

He frowned, as another blip appeared on his screens. Another aircraft? Larger, bulkier, keeping pace with the smaller. The doctor zoomed in on his monitors to identify.

A brick. a flying brick, with several life signs aboard, accompanied the red plane on its course to the doctor's ship.

Robotnik chuckled. That infernal rogue canine never ceased to impress the doctor with his combination of technical ingenuity and imagination. 

_Oh, Miles... If only you knew who you really were... you and I could accomplish great things..._

No matter. The two aircraft would be disabled and the prizes within captured. 

The doctor grinned evily and thumbed a button on his console. Alarms blared and red lights ignited throughout the ship as the Egg Zeppelin was brought to battle stations.

............................................

"Okay guys, this is it!!"

Tails clung to the controls of the Hurricane One, vibrating in his seat as the huge ugly bulk of the Egg Zeppelin filled the windshield.

Maddie flinched as the vehicle shuddered, gripping tightly to her harness. "Miles, are you _sure_ this thing is going to hold together?"

"hundred percent!" Her orange son called back. "Well, at least ninety-three percent... then again it was a rush job and is untested so that's being optimistic..."

_"Tails?"_ Sonic grit his teeth and pointedly kicked the back of his brother's seat. Yellow ears drooped and sputtered to correct himself.

"Uh... like I said! Hundred percent!!"

Maddie close her eyes as tightly as the vehicle thudded again .

The red echidna beside her swayed miserably, clutching his stomach. "I... Donfeelsogood..."

Tails thumbed the radio. "Okay... Amy, Sticks, you copy?"

The red biplane, currently piloted by the female hedgehog, kept pace the truck outside the driver's side window.

_"We copy, Tails..."_

_"Yeah!! Booted, suited, and ready to get executed!!!"_

"We're launching drones in five, guys... be ready to cover us while we set down!!"

_"Will do, Tails! Good luck!!"_

Tails grinned as he flicked switches and held his thumb over a red button.

"Open wide, egg face..."

............................................

Slung on the belly of the Hurricane, built from the carcasses of dead wasp-bots and buzz-bombers, and packed with high explosives, a cluster of drones hung ready to be launched. One by one, at a command from the cockpit, the drones dropped and streaked away on long trails of missile propellant. Explosions blossomed all across the port flank of the Egg Zeppelin, detonating precisely inside the launch tubes of the ship's portside fighter catapults. 

While the ship was robbed of half of its fighter capacity, the Tornado streaked in like a bird of prey, forward blasters chattering as they targeted point defence turrets and deck mounted fortifications.

_"YEE-HAA!! DEATH FROM ABOVE, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!! 83RD AIRBORNE IS BACK!!!"_

Amy flinched as the crazy badger on the turret behind her opened fire, strafing the enhanced twin barrelled weapon over the defending badniks, explosions blossoming from the high-powered bolts of energy.

"Sticks, can you just shut up?!" The pink hedgehog snapped, releasing a bomb from the underside of the plane. A large bear-shaped Badnik took the bomb straight to the face and vanished in the explosion as the supremely maneoverable plane pulled away. "What the hell even is this 83rd airborne ' you keep yammering about?!"

"Huh? My old unit! 83rd Mobian Airborne Division!! straight outta Mobotropolis!! Boots-first into Hell!!"

"Wait, you were in the _army?!?_ "

"What, you think I was a hairdresser or somthin'?!"

Amy shook her head and swung the plane around for another pass. "You know what Sticks, it explains a hell of a lot... " 

The badger howled with glee as another bomb fell from the plane and the explosion enveloped a whole platoon of badniks.

................................................

"NO NO NO!!! YOU DAMNED INFERNAL RODENTS!!!"

Robotnik cursed as red warning flashed over his screens, and the ship quivered as another explosion rocked the hull. His entire portside fighter wing had been utterly disabled, the point defenses couldn't keep track of the swift red plane that hammered at the hull, and that damned flying brick was in a direct intercept course for the deck of the ship.

"You foolish incompetents!!' The doctor bellowed at his bodyguard badniks, who regarded him silently. "How can a genius like me be cursed with such failures of machines?!? You're scrap!! The lot of you!!!!" 

He swung back to his tactical console and zoomed the screen in on a brown spiky ball that say in the corner of its holding cell. He hummed. He still had some leverage at least.

"Bring me that meddlesome Sheriff," he waved a hand at his bots, who dutifully stomped off to carry out their orders. He flicked his hands over his console, powering up his starboard fighter defenses. "Perhaps I can find a use for him after all. "

.........................................

Tom slowly unfurled from his protective ball, cursing at the reflexive action he unwittingly performed so often.

"Ugh... Sonic's right..." He muttered rubbing his head. "I'd make for good soccer practice..."

He jumped as another shudder ran through the ship, ears perked.

He grinned. 

"Give egg-face hell, guys..."

The sheriff helped as another explosion rocked the ship, and he again became a spiky brown ball.

..............................................

A metallic service shaft ejected its panel into a deserted steel hall of the Egg Zeppelin, clattering to the deck loudly. A pair of security Badnik's turned their attention to the commotion... before high calibre bullets peppered their armoured frames and sent them sparking to the deck. Two leather-clad figures, one black and red, the other white and tan, burst from the maintenance shaft and planted their boots into the panelled floor, weapons raised and scanning for threats.

Rouge smiled, aiming down the sights of twin pistols. "That's two more for me, slowpoke..."

"Bullshit... " grumbled Shadow, his own pistol covering their rear. "You had point..."

"Well, isn't it gentlemanly to allow ladies first? " the bag woman grinned, raising her pistols in a shrugging gesture. 

Shadow gave her an unamused glare. "Let's just proceed with the mission, shall we?"

Rouge shrugged and the pair moved on, the bat once again taking point while Shadow watched their backs.

She pouted. "Still, I don't suppose you have any idea about being a gentleman... " the bat said, pistols aiming around the corner of another hall while Shadow quickly dashed to the opposite side cover. 

"I'm perfectly capable of being considerate to others, thank you..." The hedgehog grunted, raising his pistol as Rouge moved forward .

The bat took a knee and ducked behind a pipe. She smirked as Shadow checked the map on his gauntlet display. "Not like your father..." She said mischievously, "he may be an older fellow, but he knows how to treat a lady..."

Shadow rolled his eyes at the bat's teasing. "Rouge, please..." He groaned, "I know you think you're hilarious, but I'm becoming quite tired of this little 'joke' you have going about my dad... "

"Oh honey..." chuckled his companion, as though talking to a nieve child, "who's joking?"

Shadow was now stock still, ears perked, as he slowly looked at the bat woman. a malicious smile was plastered over her face.

"No.. ." The hedgehog croaked voice deflating, "You didn't..."

"You know kiddo, alcohol can make grown-ups do all _kinds_ of things they wouldn't normally..."

Shadow dropped to his knees in mute horror.

"And I have... _exotic_ taste in men..."

The hedgehog jabbed an outraged finger toward his bat companion. _"YOU FUCKED MY DAD?!?"_

Rouge pretended to be offended. "My Shadow, that's such a _crude_ way to phrase true love... "

Shadow grabbed his ears. "I'm not listening to this..."

"Hi, 'not listening to this'..." The bat Mobian said maliciously, "I'm Mom!"

Shadow raised his hands to the sky and cursed the fates loudly.

and Rouge chuckled to herself as she wondered just how long she was going to screw with the gullible Whipples.

...............................................

Tails flinched as another blast rocked the assault vehicle. Behind him in the passenger cabin, knuckles began to turn a violent shade of green, while Maddie gripped her harness for dear life.

"Uh, hate to break it to ya little buddy... " Sonic said, nudging the back of Tails' seat with a foot, "but we're kinda a little... Exposed out here? Don't you think?"

"I'm aware, Sonic..." Tails growled through his teeth, while the Tornado spun ahead, guns chopping up the Zeppelin's deck-mounted defenses. He made a decision - it was now or never.

"Amy?" The fox flicked his radio, " I'm taking us in before those starboard side fighters arrive... could you be a dear and cover us while we insert? "

_"sure thing Tails... give them hell!"_

He shot a look to his passengers. "Okay guys, this is it... let's get dad back!"

He wrenched the flight stick and brought the Hurricane into a steep bank, accelerating the craft toward the open portside deck. Bolts of energy slashed from the deck, before the sleek red biplane swept another squadron of defence bots away in a trail of explosions.

The Hurricane slowed to a hover above the deck, chin-mounted blaster pouring fire into retreating defenders, and the boarding party removed their harness as the remoulded doors of the heavily modified truck slid open.

"Just stick with me..." Sonic held a hand on his mother's shoulder, "and keep moving!" 

She nodded, swallowing her nerves. "Let's just find my husband..."

And with that, two hedgehogs and a large echidna hopped from the hovering vehicle and jumped back into the fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Taken forever to get this chapter finished... I'm sorry, I will try and finished fic! I know how it ends, I just need to get it down and work's been kicking my ass!
> 
> Also, the whole thing with rouge and Wade? Don't worry, she's just winding them up. This version of Rouge just _really_ enjoys tormenting poor Shadow.


	7. Egg Zeppelin II

Sonic hung suspended in the air for a moment, time stopped as he and his mother hopped from the reconfigured truck. The deck below swarmed with bots, bolts of energy lancing in the direction of the boarding party... before time resumed and they hit the steel deck, launching instantly into a breakneck speed.

Sonic had fought these things for years so long that smashing them was second nature, almost as natural as breathing. Head forward, arms back, jump here, bounce there, home in on each target, pop them like ballooons... moving too fast for the clunky robots to get a lock.

His mother might have been older, but it seemed Maddie was learning well. Her attacks were clumsier, slower, more sparse, but by sticking close to enjoy her blue son she was effectively operating as a support unit.

Meanwhile Knuckles, usually the gentle giant, had fallen into a frenzy of deatruction, pounding and smashing, ripping and tearing left and right with his huge hands. Lacking the speed of the hedghogs, the large echidna settled for simply ploughing through Badniks like a freight train.

Above, the Tornado sparred with incoming egg-fighters and drones, the modified red biplane far too maneuverable for the clunky machines to tangle with. The improved plasma weapons Tails had installed chopped through armour like it wasn't there, and explosions blossomed in the air as Robotnik units were scrapped.

Sonic hopped up and drop-kicked a large tank-like Badnik in the face, causing the machine to topple onto its back, crushing a squadron of Motobugs that brought up the rear. He finished it off with a homing dash to the face, smashing its head into scrap.

He grinned as his mother landed next to him having pinballed from a wing of Buzz Bombers. She appeared dazed, but furious all the same.Just

"This is what you've been doing all these years?" she cried , "without us knowing?"

Sonic shrugges. "Just another day on the job, mom! "

She pointed sternly at her son. "We are having a _conversation..._ " the black hedgehog replied, " when we get your father back! "

With that, the two hedgehogs split up to pursue their own targets, while the echidna smashed bots into pulp and the Hurricane One poured fire from above.

.........................

" Agh! " 

Tom staggered as another explosion rocked the hull, resisting the urge to instinctively drop into his protective ball. 

"Hey, try not to give him too much hell!" The brown hedgehog cried, spreading his arms indignantly as he looked around the ceiling, "I'm still in here!"

Tom jumped with a start as the energy barrier trapping him in his cell vanished with an electrical snap.

Before he could react, a pair of Eggman's robots, tasked with guarding him, turned and raised their arm-cannons.

Tom raised his hands and eyed them with trepidation.

"Uh... easy, guys..." The hedgehog said , eyes flicking between the two bots, "can't we talk this out like responsible... evil battle automatons?"

" SHERIFF THOMAS WACHOWSKI. " the first one said in a monotonous, artificial voice, "WE HAVE ORDERS TO ESCORT YOU TO THE MAIN BRIDGE. THE GREAT DOCTOR ROBOTNIK REQUIRES YOUR PRESENCE."

Tom raised an eyebrow.

"What the hell does Robotski need _me_ for" th hedgehog spread his arms in an 'aw gee' expression, a lopsided sheepish grin pasted over his face. "He missing me already? Aw, bless..."

"YOU WILL ACCOMPANY THESE UNITS..." The bot continued, "WITHOUT RESISTANCE. PLEASE COMPLY."

"Okay, ED-209! Take it easy!"

The bot stomped toward him, appearing as though it were about to manhandle him regardless of whether he put up a fight or not.

"REPEAT - YOU WILL ACCOMPANY THESE UNITS. WITHOUT RESIST-"

Tom flinched and reflexively curled into a ball as a hail of high-caliber bullets peppered the two Badniks, piercing the ablative armoured chassis. The two battle robots turned to face their assailant s - too slow as a purple leather-clad figure slammed feet first into the leftmost, crushing the head, and the other sparked and smoked as it's internal working caught fire.

Shadow stormed up to the quivering bot and distastefully flicked it in the face, causing the machine to fall backward onto the deck. rouge swiftly took a moment to cover both directions in the hallway with her twin pistols, before smirking down at the brown ball they stood before.

"So..." The flirtatious bat said mischievously , "what's a handsome 'hog like you doing in a place like this? "

.........................

Blue eyes peeked out from their protective ball as the two freelancers approached, before Tom unfurled and grinned in relief.

"Shadow!" The brown hedgehog hopped to his feet and greeted his younger nephew', "Jeez kid, am I happy to see you!"

Shadow grunted while Rouge pouted over her shoulder.

" And what about me, Sheriff? doesn't your gorgeous rescuer at least deserve a kiss? "

"Yeah... sorry lady, your hedgehog is in another castle..."

Shadow gloomily shot a glare as Rouge winked at the sheriff, before turning back to his uncle and opening his jacket.

"The others are busy securing the flight deck for our escape..." the striped hedgehog said, Tom's eyes landing on a pair of him holsters secured to his hip. "My dad wanted you to have this..."

Shadow finished unbuckling his extra holster, and handed it to Tom along with spare magazines.

Tom looked down to the weapon, the cold harsh human weapon alien in this strange world, before his eyes fixed back on Shadow's. The black hedgehog smirked.

"He said to 'put one in that Robotski bastard' for him."

Tom fixed his jaw and nodded, securing the holster around his hips. He rolled his shoulders and flexed his spines as the belt snapped shut.

"Asshole has it coming," the brown hedgehog muttered, "for trying to hurt my family... I'm not leaving here without dealing with him."

Shadow nodded. "I understand."

"Uh, boys?"

Rouge raised her pistols and set her back to the wall, all mischievous humour evaporating as the professional freelance agent took over. She fixed the two hedgehogs with a cold glare.

"Hate to break up the family reunion, but we have company!"

at that, bolts of energy slashed down the prison hallway as egg-shaped battle robots began to stomp down the other end, causing the three loose intruders into cover.

.........................

Amy jerked the flight stick of the Tornado as she wrenched the biplane away from the flaming wreckage of an approaching egg fighter. She grit her teeth as she settled the craft into position behind another, thumbs clamping down on the firing mechanisms of the plane's forward mounted guns.

The target blossomed into scrap and she swiftly barrel rolled away. bolts of energy slashed through the air where she had been, the sleek red aircraft just too maneuverable for the plodding Robotnik units to maintain a lock.

After Tails, Amy was the best pilot Team Sonic had. She grinned behind her flight goggles as she skimmed the plane inches above the Egg Zeppelin's hull. Crossfire from deck defences lanced from the hull and failed to connect as the Tornado pulled away... bright bolts of energy instead blasting pursuing egg-fighters out of the air.

"Yeehaa!!!" Sticks screeched from her position, leaning from the turret position to offer a rude gesture at the flaming wrecks as they slammed into the hull, "Another couple o' fuckers down!"

Amy scanned the air for further threats... and winced as the Tornado took a glancing hit. The sky was lit up like a disco, brightly coloured bolts of energy all around. And Eggman's troops were becoming more accurate each minute. 

The aircraft was quick, but they couldn't stay up here forever.

"Sticks!" Amy called over to her companion, "I'm gonna take us down! We're gonna get minced if we stay in the air much longer!"

Sticks turned and offered a bloodthirsty grin. "Boots on the ground?! Yes ma'am!"

Amy turned her attention back to her flight path and aimed the nose for the landing deck of the ship. Explosions rocked all around, and energy bolts chinked at the Tornado's hull as the plane streaked toward the deck like a missile. Defending bots were smashed apart and sliced in two as the reinforced frame of the aircraft ploughed through them like a bowling ball.

"Ah, crap!"

Amy slammed the brakes on the Tornado, fired the heavily modified plane's reverse thrusters, as a large heavy badnik loomed in her sights.

Too late. The Tornado lanced into the machine like a spear, forward mounted proppeller ripping the inards to shreds, gutting it.

Smoke billowed from the plane's engine as the impaled machine sputtered and died.

"Well..." Amy said dryly, "Tails is gonna kill me..."

A brown hand smacked her across the shoulder, and a helmeted face screeched in her ear.

"Come on, soldier!" Sticks cried, an ecstatic grin plastered over her face, "get into the fight!"

Amy watched as the badger vaulted out of the Tornado, dismounted gun in hand, and happily began to gun down bots as casually as though she were taking a Sunday stroll.

"So the crazy badger's a deranged war vet, huh?" The pink hedgehog muttered, "What's next? Tails is a robot or something? Crazy times..."

The hedgehog shrugged, hammer flashing into existence in her hands, before she hopped from the downed plane and ran into the fight.

..............................

Tom ducked behind the cover of a bulkhead, gun in both hands as energy bolts slashed past him. He quickly sighted his weapon and fired, bullets pinging harmlessly from the armoured chassis of his target. The eggbot stomped onwards, arm cannon blazing.

Tom hissed as he felt fur singe with the heat of the passing plasma. Beside him, Shadow raised his own weapon and fired, the very high-caliber weapon easily penetrating the armour. Tom's own pistol couldn't breach.

"Stay back!" The black hedgehog growled, slotting a fresh clip into his pistol, "you don't have the stopping power to take out these things!"

"Hey, it's not the size that counts!" Said Rouge, her humour returning with the thrill of the fight as she downed the remaining bot with a blast from her own pistols, "its how you use it!"

Well, great. Tom was useless, then.

"Okay. Let's move!" Shadow grunted, taking the lead through the now cleared deck. Tom jumped as a gloved hand slapped his ass.

"Come on, honey!" The white bat winked at him, sharp teeth poking from the corners of her mouth, "I'll cover the rear! You have fun in the middle..."

Tom shook his head incredulously. "What is _wrong_ with you?"

Rouge's humour faded and the cold professional returned. "Just move before I make you move, sugar?"

Tom flinched at the sudden cold glare. "Uh... Yes ma'am!"

"Good boy..." Rouge raised her pistols and aimed down back where the trio had come, as Tom gripped his own pistol and followed his nephew.

Tom panted like a dog as he ran, the meager sweat glands of his hedgehog form not enough to cope with the industrial heat of the ship's innards alone. He turned the corner where Shadow had gone to find the black hedgehog tusseling with another squad of eggbots in close quarters... and slid to a halt as more bots, stomping from the opening of another hall, raised their arm cannons... And fired.

Right at him.

Tom, in the split second he had left to live before he became a cloud of vaporised fluff, squeaked and curled into his protective ball.

He felt impacts all over his body, dozens of them. 

He cried as he realised he was dead.

.............................

"Tom."

Shadow and Rouge hovered anxiously over the brown ball sat in the middle of the deck, looking down in concern.

"Is... he okay?" Rouge looked to Shadow, bewilderment plastering her features.

Shadow didn't reply, simply kicking at the ball with the toe of his rocket boot. "Tom? You okay in there?"

The spiky ball, smoking from the impact of dozens of energy bolts, slowly opened, blue eyes peeking from the chink in the armour.

"Sh... Shadow?"

Shadow kneeled down and eyed the ball curiously, noting the utter lack of injury or damage. "Uh, yeah... I'm here... as are you, it seems."

Tom fully unfurled into a sitting position, looking around in bemusement.

"Am... I still alive?"

"So it appears..." Shadow mused, checking Tom's body. Aside from the smoke that drifted from his spines, thete was absolutely no evidence the hedgehog had even been scratched.

Tom blinked as he looked down at his uninjured body. "How the hell am I not a hedgehog-shaped smear right now?"

Shadow hummed. "I'm unsure..." The black hedgehog extended a hand toward the brown. "It appears that your ball form is quite... Impregnable. Perhaps, like your wife, you also gained certain abilities we simply haven't seen yet."

Tom grunted as he accepted Shadow's hand, hefting himself to his feet. "Great..." He muttered, "so Maddie gets super speed and I get to be a bulletproof kickball..."

"I wouldn't complain, Tom..." His neph replied, "if I'm right it literally just saved your life."

Tom considered for a moment and shrugged. "Fair."

Rouge giggled. " Talk about 'balls of steel'!"

Shadow shot her a look while Tom blushed. "Would you like to take point?" He growled.

"Sure!" The bat replied, flashing her eyelids. "I'll give you boys a nice view!"

The two males exchanged unamused glances, before Tom trotted ahead and Shadow followed, covering the rear.

.........................

"CURSES!!!" the doctor snarled , both fists slamming into the tactical console with fury, breaking several keys with a harsh crack. "BLAST YOU, YOU CONTEMPTIBLE RODENTS!!!!"

The doctor was beyond outraged. Not only had the blasted Team Sonic began to smash apart his entire defensive force of Badniks, despite being heavily outnumbered and outgunned, but that damned sheriff had been let loose from his cage, now crawling somewhere in the guts of his ship with his rescuers, causing even more mayhem. His one bargaining chip, out of his grasp.

The doctor scowled, angrily storming from his chair and shoving past his bodyguard.

"If you want a job done right..." The mad doctor growled, " do it yourself! "

...................

Tails cackled as he ran the Hurricane's chin turret over the deck, Badniks of various kinds blossoming into explosions of scrap and sparks as the modified plasma weapon cut through them like butter. The auto turret on the roof of the heavily altered truck snapped between airborne targets, keeping drones and fighers off his back.

Goggles down and teeth bared, the fox was in his element. It was times like this, behind the controls of wonderful machine and plenty of targets to fry, that he felt like a different person.

Below, his family and friends dashed around, smashing the army of bots that homed in on them. It was quite the display from up here, seeing the gang of heroes fight against an army many times their number. Tails felt a flash of pride and admiration as his adoptive mother executed a perfect homing attack against a squad of Badniks, smashing each egg-shaped battle robot in sequence as though she were the player character in some kind of action game.

He marvelled at his Maddie's newfound powers. Amazing how she seemed to have developed the same power set as his brother. Miles wondered if Tom had any abilities they didn't know about yet. Maybe he could fly like his adopted fox son.

Despite the surrounding chaos, Tails chuckled as he imagined Tom as a twin-tailed Mobian fox. would that have been better? a little too late to consider now.

Tails shook his head clear and grinned maliciously as he banked the Hurricane left and swung the chin turret to bear on a large battle robot that stomped over the deck. A nice big fat target to chop apart.

He didn't get to pull the trigger. Before he could focus fire on the thing, a huge panel slid open from the ceiling of the internal hangar bay, and an enormous machine dropped from its supports. Two massive metallic feet stomped into the deck, shaking the entire ship, knocking Mobians and Badniks from their feet and utterly flattening his intended target.

Tails swung the Hurricane back and yelped in surprise as his eyes settled on an enormous battle robot, gleaming red and egg-shaped, the leering visage of Eggman himself plastered over a smooth head.

"Well..." Hummed the fox, the edges of his muzzle quivering as he grimaced uneasily, "that's new... "

...................

The heroes of Team Sonic were on a roll - pun not (or entirely) intended. with their combined powers, years of experience fighting Eggman bots, and the added zeal from trying to rescue one of their own, the defending robots were being pounded by the attacking Mobians.

Well. The five attacking Mobians... and one ex-human hedgehog.

Maddie staggered as she landed back on her feet, the smoking ruins of several Badniks laying in heaps around her.

she had smashed the things as though she had been doing it her entire life.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this..."

Maddie flinched as an energy snapped by he uncomfortably close, and a blue blur scooped her up.

"close one there, mom! "

Maddie grinned sheepishly up at her heroic blue son, fur and quills bristling in the speedspace they both inhabited, before he deposited her back on her feet. Her legs instantly began moving at the same velocity as Sonic's, the black hedgehog falling behind for a scant moment before she regained her position beside him, two supersonic fighters again assuming their formation as they swung around the slow-motion battle raging around them.

"So," Sonic chattered, as they hopped over the wreck of a smashed fighter, "which one do you wanna go for next?"

Maddie observed the battle around them as her brain moved a hundred miles an hour. Knuckles was busy pummelling Badniks into scrap with his fists. Amy smashed them into pancakes with her hammer. Sticks wore a crazy grin as she blasted bots apart with a large energy weapon. The Hurricane, the Wachowskis' heavily modified reborn truck, held large squadrons of defensive units at bay with its chin gun and missiles.

Crazy how a small number of Mobians were able to cause so much damage. It was like they were superheroes or something.

Maddie nodded toward a very large battle robot that stomlef over the deck, chainsaw arm revving and arm cannon readying a charged shot.

" I think that guy needs cutting down to size!"

Sonic grinned. "Think you're ready to take on Obliteratorbot, huh? Okay! Well take him together!"

The two hedgehogs veered around and prepared to assault the clanking machine - before the thing was crushed beneath an enormous metal foot.

They were launched into the air with the impact, rolling into a lair of heaps to the deck.

Maddie looked up... and quailed as her eyes met an enormous battle mech.

Sonic grabbed her shoulder and dragged her to her feet.

"Just run, mom!" He cried, holding her hand and leading her into a sprint. "You definitely aren't ready for that!"

.........................

Shadow, Rouge, and Tom hightailed it through the guts of the ship, heads down as bolts of plasma slashed all around them. They ducked and weaved between the lances of super heated energy, slamming into a support structure for cover.

"Is it me..." Tom panted, fur and quills ruffled and singed, "or are these guys multiplying?"

Shadow leaned around the bulkhead and fired, high-caliber rounds penetrating the ablative armour of the advancing eggbots.

" We're nearing the landing deck, resistance is increasing..." the black hedgehog grunted, ducking down to reload while Rouge covered with her energy pistols. He fixed his brown uncle with a glare. "stay here. Your weapon can't do much against these things. We'll handle it. "

"Wait, you'll what? "

Shadow and Rouge ignored him, instead vaulting over their cover and charging their suppressors. 

.................

Team Sonic, previously owning the battle, now scattered and ran for cover, as explosions rocked the deck. The huge battle mech targeted the fleeing Mobians, carelessly blasting and stomping its own badniks into scrap without.

"Keep moving!" Sonic cried to his mother, setting himself between her and the mech, "it can't hit us if we keep going!"

"What the hell are we going to do against that?" Cried Maddie, glancing fearfully at the huge machine.

"Guys!" Sonic called into his wrist communicator, glaring at the machine with trepidation, "focus on the big one! Tails, move back and suppress! Eggman has to be in that thing, we'll show him the bigger they are the harder they fall!"

............................

Shadow and Rouge smashed bots left and right, blasting with pistols and lunging with limbs, slowly becoming enveloped by the horde of bots.

Tom watched in trepidation as more and more bots piled into the fight. He felt useless, his own weapon lacking the power yo cause significant damage to the damned machines.

He jumped with a start as shadow took a blow, and Rouge went sprawling to the ground as the bots closed in.

He had to do something.

What was it Shadow had said? About his ball form being impenetrable?

"Okay, Wachowski...." Tom grit his teeth and hopped from his cover, an extremely stupid idea running through his brain. 

A spin dash couldn't be too hard, right?

"Okay... just be the ball... Be the ball..." Tom began to pick up speed, aiming for the crowd of robots consuming his friends. "You are the ball... you are the ball... you are... a goddamn idiot!!!"

Nearing his objective, the brown hedgehog curled up mid stride - and pandemonium erupted.

..............................

Shadow wrenched himself to his feet, snarling with fury as he shoved his pistol into the face of another eggbot and pulled the trigger. High caliber rounds tore through the thing's central processor, the vaguley humanoid form quivering, before he discarded it with a boot to the chest.

He lunged forward, briefly becoming a spinning circular saw, cutting through another bot to get to his comrade. Rouge, one wing bent at an unnerving angle, angrily lashed out with a steel-capped toe as Shadow helped her up.

"This... might have been a bad idea..." Shadow grunted, slotting a fresh clip into his pistol.

"You think?" Rouge hissed painfully, "I was just starting to enjoy myself..."

At that, another wave of bots stormed into the hall, seemingly on their way to reinforce the flight deck.

Shadow glared at his companion. "you were saying?"

Before the two battered Mobians could continue desperately holding off their attackers, a brown shape streaked between them toward the considerable force of approaching Badniks. 

Defying the laws of physics, the cannonball bounced around the hall, smashing through bots like they weren't there, impacting with a force beyond its size. 

"Get down!"

Shadow grabbed Rouge and flattened then both to ground, heads down as energy bolts slashed everywhere, the bots fruitlessly targeting the shape as it pinballed from the walls, ceiling, floors, and smashed mechanical bodies.

Eventually, surrounded by a sea of smoking scrap, a spiky brown ball rolled to a halt, smoke wisping from the spines where bolts of energy had hit.

Rouge and Shadow glanced at one another, then climbed to their feet and made their way down the hall, stepping over and around the twitching remains of a dozen eggbots.

The brown ball unfurled into an extremely dazed and confused Thomas Wachowski.

_" Excooze me madam c'n I see yer' lysense n'd iden' fication?!"_

"Well," chuckled Rouge, "that was certainly something..."

Tom shook his head clear and looked around at the destruction. "D' I do that?"

" sure did," shadow reached down and helped Tom to his feet, the brown hedgehog wobbling uneasily. "Do us a favour? Warn us next time you do that."

"Not far to the landing deck..." Rouge said, rotating her damaged wing with gritted teeth. "Come on boys!"

The trio continued their escape, heading toward the sounds of further battle echoing from beyond.

..............,..............

"TAILS!!"

Sonic cried in alarm as, above the flight deck, the Hurricane banked left, narrowly avoiding being blown out of the sky by a stream of auto-cannon rounds. 

_"its okay, just took a glancing hit!"_ the fox's voice crackled from his wrist communicator in reply, the hovering assault craft returning fire at the giant mech from it's own weapons. Blaster rounds pinged harmlessly from the mech's armour, the machine too tough to penetrate.

Sonic pressed his back to the cold steel of a downed heavy Badnik, the rest of Team Sonic beside him, all frazzled from the intense fighting. 

"Get out of here Tails..." The blue hedgehog said, wincing at another near miss. The deck rocked with the impact of the massive steel feet. "You can't do any more good up there!"

_" Sorry! "_

The heavily modified truck turned and rocketed away from the flight deck, flames blasting from its rear thrusters. The mech put a final few shots after the aircraft, before its guns fell silent and it towered triumphantly over the ruined flight deck.

 _" So, Team Sonic!! "_ Eggman's voice boomed from the mech's loudspeakers, as the machine scanned the mountains of scrap and wreckage for the hiding Mobians, _" or should I say... Team Chronic!!"_

The Mobians exchanged bewildered glances.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Said Amy, hammer in hand.

"Heh, I get it!" Chuckled Knux.

"No idea..." Replied Sonic.

 _"Looks like I finally have you where I want you!!"_ the mad doctor continued, the eyes of his battle mech glowing furiously above the leering visage of his own face, _"Crushed beneath the iron tread of the Eggman Empire!!!"_ the giant mech stepped forward, crushing shattered Badniks beneath its enormous foot, the deck shaking as though from an Earthquake. _"Surrender now and I might let your friends live!"_

"How considerate..." Muttered the blue hedgehog, usual good cheer gone as he glared at his arch nemesis.

Maddie grabbed him by the shoulder. "How do we take that thing down? It's huge!"

"Hate ta break it to ya lady, but I don't think we have da firepower ta even dent that thing..." Sticks, covered in oil, hefted the empty blaster like a club, ammunition long expended.

"The shields on that mech are too strong!" Added Amy, hands wrapping tight around the shaft of her hammer, "we're gonna have to use our brains to get out of this!"

"Ah jeez..." Knuckles groaned, "not the "b" word..."

"Just hold tight guys..." Said Sonic, raising a reassuring hand, "he can't see us right now... we'll think of a way to bring him down..."

 _"Sonic? Tails?"_ just then, a familiar gruff voice crackled over the team's communication channel. _"Does anyone wanna tell me what the hell that thing is? "_

.............................

Shadow, Rouge and Tom skidded to a halt behind the wreckage of a downed egg-fighter, ducking down beneath the notice of an enormous battle mech that was busy scanning the ruins of Robotnik's defence force. It seemed the majority of the ships' defending Badniks had been despatched, but this huge machine posed an even bigger threat.

 _" Shadow?! "_ Sonic's voice fizzed in the black hedgehog's earpiece, _" Are you guys okay? Did you find my-"_

"Affirmative, the package is secure..." Shadow grunted, grabbing Tom's shoulder and forcing him down as he attempted to peek over their cover. "You appear to be occupied that with one of Egghead's new toys?"

 _"yes..."_ the blue hedgehog sounded out of breath, the furious battle having taken it's toll. _"We've tried everything, but nothing works! None of our attacks can penetrate that armour!"_

"Maybe none of _their_ attacks..." Said Rouge thoughtfully, gesturing pointedly at Tom.

Shadow considered for a moment, before his face morphed into a smirk.

"Sonic... remember the high school baseball team?"

_"uuhh... Shadow? I'd love to take a trip down memory lane, but what's that got do with anything?"_

"How's your batting arm? I have an idea..."

..............................

 _"Oh Soooniiiiic!_ " the doctor cackled , voice amplified by his loudspeakers, _"Come out come out wherever you are!!!"_

"For the record... " Tom, nestled in between Shadow and Rouge, briefly peeked out from his ball with big worried eyes, "I think this is a really bad idea..."

" Don't worry, hun... " Rouge winked, "I've seen a lot of balls, and you're the firmest one yet!"

"Ready when you are, Shadow..." Tom curled up tight, and Shadow raised his communicator to his mouth. 

"Sonic, I'm about to pitch... your dad, " The black hedgehog said, hefting the balled up hedgehog in his hands, "Everyone be ready to execute the plan! "

 _" okay, Team!"_ Sonic replied, _"Operation 'shoot my dad at a giant robot' is a go!"_

A chorus of voices responded, and Team Sonic leapt into action.

Shadow hefted Tom as he hopped out of their cover, Sonic and the others doing the same across the deck. Above, bolts of energy slammed into the mech as Tails swung back in as a distraction. The giant egg-mech teetered unsteadily at the surprise counter attack, weapons struggling to get a lock on the swift moving Mobians.

Shadow, head down and rocket boots firing, locked his eyes on his blue cousin.

"Shadow!" Sonic called, wielding Amy's hammer like a baseball bat, "do it!"

Shadow grit his teeth and raised the ball in his hands. "Sorry, Tom..." 

With all of his strength, using the added momentum from his rocket boots, Shadow roared as he threw his tightly curled up uncle at the blue hedgehog. The brown ball spun through the air, perfectly pitched, and Sonic's tail waggled as his back arched and the hammer raised.

"Aaand... SWING!!!"

Sonic swung the hammer, his years on the Green Hills High school baseball team paying off as the head hit the approaching ball with an almighty thwack.

The ball, with it's curious physics defying properties, became a flaming comet, inpacting the centre of the towering mech - and blasting through the other side like a bullet. Again defying logic, Tom bounced from the walls of the landing deck, and burst through the mech once again.

Sputtering, smoking, the giant robot began to shake. Warning klaxons wailed from the machine, red lights blinking as its power core was smashed.

Sonic knew what was coming next.

"Everybody get down!" 

And with a mighty blast, the egg-mech exploded into scrap.

..............................

"Ugh..." Tom Wachowski rubbed his head and swayed as he raised himself into a sitting position, blinking away stars. "I need a vacation from this... vacation..."

He looked around and found himself having rolled to a stop some ways from the now destroyed mech, the machine lying face down on the landing deck, smoking and sparking.

"Hmm..." He muttered, rubbing at his ringing ears. "Did I do that?"

Suddenly, a flash of red caught the corner of his eye. He swung to find Robotnik himself, unsteadily stumbling across the deck, making for a set of blast doors in the wall.

A flare of anger burst in Tom's chest.

"Oh no you don't, you bastard..."

Dazed, Tom staggered to his feet and pursued the fleeing doctor... pistol in hand as he just made it through the closing doors.

...............................

" Aaand it. Is. OUTTA THERE!!"

Maddie unsteadily climbed to her feet, assisted by Amy, as Sonic stood triumphantly before the smoking wreck of the doctors' mech, hands in the air. The whole of Team Sonic now gathered around, surrounded by a sea of smashed and wrecked Badniks, the ship's entire compliment of defence bots reduced to scrap.

"Great plan, Shads!" Sonic turned and gekd his hand up, offering a high five to his striped cousin, which was reluctantly and unenthusiastically accepted. "I can't believe dad did that!"

Shadow grunted. "Yes, it appears Tom has a power of his own... In ball form, he's pretty much indestructible, and posses remarkable attack strength. We figured that out on the way here."

"Well that's interesting and all..." Maddie said, giving the younger hedgehogs a stern look, "but how about we, y'know... find out where the hell he went?!"

Sonic and Shadow exchanged sheepish looks, before Sonic raised his wrist communicator to his mouth.

" Tails buddy..." They all looked to the hovering craft that had once been the family truck, floating above the wreckage strewn deck on its anti grav thrusters, "can you locate Dad? We seem to have lost him..."

 _"bad news, Sonic..."_ Tails' voice replier, filling them with apprehension, _"I have his life signiture... he's heading toward the bridge! He's going after Eggman!"_

_Sonic, Maddie and Shadow, surrounded by their friends, looked between one another with trepidation, and Sonic's shoulders slumped._

_"Oh crap."_

_............................._ and

Robotnik snarled as he stumbled onto the bridge of the Egg Zeppelin, punching in the codes to his personal escape pod. He was furious! All his preparation, his superior numbers, the element of surprise... all of it for nothing! His entire defence force of Badniks had been obliterated, including his precious Egg-mech! Those infernal rodents would pay... maybe it was time to bring his auxiliary forces online after all...

"Those confounded creatures!!" The doctor growled, rubbing the singed flesh of his face, "just you wait, Sonic... I'll gave my revenge, and capture you yet! You and that collection of freaks you call a family..."

_Clack._

"Step. Away. From the console."

Robotnik paused in his desperate activity, the hair on his neck standing on end, as a familiar voice filled with cold rage sounded from behind him.

He turned, slowly... and his eyes found themselves staring down the cold steel barrel of a brutal Earth weapon... a Green Hills Police Department issued pistol, held in the practiced hands of a brown Mobian hedgehog.

"Well..." Robotnik hissed, a malicious smile forming beneath his crazy moustache, "fancy seeing you here, Sheriff!"

Tom didn't blink, didn't move, made no action but to steadily hold his sights over the leering face of the man who had threatened his family.

"Move away." The hedgehog growled. Moments ticked by, agonisingly slow, before a harsh gunshot broke the silence. The doctor flinched as the bullet pinged from the bulkhead beside him. 

Robotnik looked to his left bicep, blood leaking from where the projectile had nicked him.

Tom's eyes didn't waver. Sharp canines bared. "Now."

Robotnik, still wearing that leering grin, slowly moved away from the escape pod, the gun following him as he moved.

"So..." The doctor said, grinning like a snake, "what are you going to do, sheriff? Shoot me?" He giggled maniacally. " _murder_ me? I thought you would be above such barbarity..." He stopped and stroked his moustache, mock-thoughtfully. "Oh yes, I forgot... You're a cop!"

Tom, face like thunder, didn't break his glare. 

"No..." The hedgehog replied after painful seconds of considerations, weapon lowering. "I won't shoot you.'

Robotnik reared his head and cackled, spreading his arms incredulously. 

"So what, are you going to _arrest_ me? I don't believe you have jurisdiction here, sheriff!" The mad doctor lowered his brow and leered mockingly at the brown hedgehog, a cruel glint in his eyes. "And given your present... condition... You may find yourself out of a job when you return to that pitiful little hovel you call a town!"

Tom maintained eye contact with the human. He wanted to pull the trigger. it would be so easy... Nobody here to witness, he could claim self defence... and after everything Robotnik had done, he wouldn't have blamed any other man... Any other father...

The gun lowered. No. It wasn't his way. It wasn't the Green Hills way.

"No..." Tom muttered, eyes not leaving Eggman's, "I don't want to arrest you either..."

Robotnik howled with laughter, the burned and blackened human fixing the hedgehog with amusement. "Well then, sheriff! We appear to be at a bit of an impasse, don't we?"

Tom ignored him, slowly sliding the pistol back into its holster. 

"You tried to hurt my family..." The brown hedgehog began to slowly unbuckle his holster. "Tried to kill my friends..." The gun holster dropped to the deck with a clunk. "Ten years ago, you tried to kill my son..." He stood, head bowed and fists clenched, glaring furiously at the human that had tried to take everything from him. "And now here we are, in a locked room, alone..." Pointed canines jutted from the corners of his mouth, his spines flexing. "Do you know how many men would want to be in my shoes right now?"

Robotnik guffawed, realisation dawning as he understood what his former prisoner intended. "You must be joking!' The doctor chuckled, eyes flicking up and down over the enraged hedgehog that barely stood to his shoulders. " trust me, my furry little friend... I can more than handle myself in a fight!"

"Good..." The hedgehog snarled, teeth bared, "I wanna make this interesting..."

And with that, Sheriff Thomas Wachowski raised his fists, and the two men stormed toward one another to finish their fight.

.............................

"Tails, come on!" Sonic fretfully paced back and forth, hands on hips, the entirety of Team Sonic surrounding him and his brother as the fox hunched over the blast door controls. "Dad's stuck in there with Robotnik! We don't have time to screw around!"

"Do you wanna try this?!" The fox snapped, goggled eyes glaring up at his brother, "I'd like to see you crack a one-hundred and twenty-eight thousand bit modulating encryption key..."

" just get us in there, Tails!" Sonic growled, his patience utterly eroded by worry for his father, "him and Robotnik... Egghead could have done anything to him by now!"

"Tom is highly resilient..." Said Shadow, moving beside his cousin, "so long as he remains in ball form..."

Sonic shook his head and glared angrily at his striped counterpart, "yeah, and he can't do anything like that! What if Egghead takes him again? What if this whole attack was for nothing?! What if-"

"Sonic..." Maddie stepped forward and cupped her son's face in her hands, "I know... I'm worried about your father too... but please honey, for your father's sake... let miles work?"

"She's right, Sonic..." Amy, hammer resting over her shoulder, lay a supportive hand on the shorter black hedgehog's arm, "save it for when we get these doors open? Then we can give old egg-for-brains what he deserves!"

"Hell yeah!" Sticks bobbed about on the balls of her feet, eyes obscured by her goggles and screaming skull glaring from her old army helmet, the dented form of the long-depleted blaster clutched in her hands. "Jus' wait till I get in 'dere! I'll show that bastard not ta screw wid' my friends! 'Dey don't call me Sticks fer nuttin', ya know!"

Knuckles, stood nearby, scratched his head. "Why do they call you Sticks, anyway?"

The crazy war veteran grimaced at him with bared fangs. "Because I'm gonna sticks my foot so far up dat fucker's ass, he's gonna taste boot polish for a year!"

Rouge, who had never associated with the badger outside of this crazy fic, smiled mischievously. "Such wonderful imagery..."

"Can you all just please _be quiet?!?_ " Tails glared at his present company, unamused by the bickering, "I'm trying to concentrate-"

A mechanical clank interrupted the fox before he could finish snapping irritably, and the collection of Mobians hopped away from the blast door with a start as the heavily reinforced metal began to slide apart. They each adopted combat stances as the doors began to slide open, fully expecting another Eggman creation to stomp formidably into combat.

" if its Robotnik... " growled Sonic, "he's mine..."

It wasn't Robotnik.

Well, not just Robotnik.

The entirety of Team Sonic, fully expecting further battle, gasped as, illuminated in the flashing red lights of the ship's warning systems... a brown hedgehog stood, battered and bloodied, one swollen eye shut closed... and the limp, unconscious form of one Doctor Robotnik clutched in one hand by the scruff of his red jacket.

They watched in disbelief as, slowly and painfully, the hedgehog limped toward them, dtagging the comatose human over the deck without care. Eventually, the hedgehog allowed the unconscious human to flop to the ground, a bald head colliding with the hard steel floor with a crack.

The victorious Tom Wachowski, swaying from the injuries he had sustained, looked over the crowd of incredulous Mobians in mild confusion.

" Book 'im...." The battered Sheriff mumbled, before his eyes lost focus and he collapsed to the deck in a brown, bleeding heap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jeez, this chapter has been an absolute bugger to write... but I finally got it out! I'm sorry for any typos that might exist, I'm extremely tired from work and my patience is shot... I just wanted to get it up! 
> 
> One final chapter to go...


	8. Vacation's End

"How are you feeling, baby?"

Tom, nestled in a wooden deck chair and nursing a beer, raised his shades to peek at his wife as she clutched a glass of something tropical. 

He winced, rubbing at his swollen eye. "Like I need another vacation to recover from this... vacation..."

Maddie grinned and nestled beside him, the lounger big enough to accommodate both of them. Originally built for human specifications especially for their visit... they had room to spare these days.

Maddie linked her arm with his, sipping at her cocktail. "Nice to finally just lay back and enjoy the sun, right?"

Tom grunted. "Yeah, sure... work on my 'tan'..."

The couple lay back and watched as, in the sand, the victorious Team Sonic happily bounced a volleyball between one another, chattering and joking just as they would normally. Tom and Maddie were happy to just watch, the forty-something year olds' appetite for excitement well and truly filled by their crazy vacation.

Maddie snuggled into Tom's side, burying her head into the thick fur of his chest. "Is this how you thought this vacation would go?"

Tom snorted. "What, magically turning into space hedgehogs, fighting an evil mastermind and his robot army and putting him behind bars? No. Funnily enough, I didn't see any of that coming."

Maddie grinned at him. "Behind bars thanks to you, mister Hero!"

Tom grunted. After being subdued, Team Sonic had scuttled the Egg Zeppelin (Tom loved that name) and held Robotnik captive until proper authorities could arrive. Tom hadn't known what to expect... but he definitely hadn't expected a wing of Mobian Army helicopters to make landfall on the beach before Sonic and Tails' home, furry soldiers flanking a black-suited female chipmunk as she approached authoritatively.

Tom, his injuries bandaged, had joined the others as the female approached. 

"Well..." the chipmunk had said, eyeing Sonic without amusement, "Long time, Sonic..."

"Sally..." the hedgehog had blushed, before clearing his throat. "Uh... mom, dad? This is Sally Acorn..."

" _Commander_ Acorn, Sonic..."

"Uh, yeah... Commander Acorn... Commander, these are my parents, Tom and Maddie Wachowski."

The chipmunk eyed the two unfamiliar hedgehogs curiously. "Hmm... Sonic never mentioned you..."

"Uh..." Tom had racked his brains, searching for a explanation. 'We're aliens from another planet currently stuck in the form of your species' hadn't seemed plausible.

"We used to live a very long way away!" Maddie jumped in. "Alone!"

"Yeah, kinda hermits!" Tom had nodded.

"And with all the adventuring..." Tails chipped in, "We just never got round to talking about our folks!"

"Yeah!" Maddie stood between both her boys, and linked her arms with theirs, "Who wants to talk about their boring old parents?"

Acorn simply looked between them, unconvinced, but appeared to let the matter slide. "I assume the doctor is secured?"

Tails nodded. "Yeah, in my workshop."

Acorn gestured to her two bodyguards. "Follow my friend here. Secure the doctor."

"Yes ma'am..."

"Yes ma'am..."

The soldiers marched off under Tails' guidance, leaving Sonic and his parents alone with the commander.

"So, _Tom..._ " she said, Tom's ears drooping beneath her scrutiny, "I hear you are the hedgehog responsible for subduing the doctor?"

Tom shuffled awkwardly. "Uh, actually, I..."

"Yep!" Sonic interrupted, wrapping one arm around his shorter father's shoulders, "This is the hedgehog alright! Of course, my friends and I might have helped out a little, but this guy here?" the blue hedgehog gave the battered brown one a shake, "gave old Egghead a pasting!"

"Clearly..." The commander, despite her reservations, looked the brown hedgehog over approvingly. "Well, mister Wachowski, you have my severe gratitude... Doctor Robotnik has evaded apprehension for years. If it weren't for your sons and their friends keeping him in check all this time, who knows how many innocents may have been lost..." She fumbled around inside her black jacket, and produced a sheaf of paper. "As a token of appreciation, please accept this complimentary voucher for Meh' Burger."

Tom accepted the meal deal voucher with a forced grin, while Sonic and Maddie snickered behind him. "Thanks..." he had said, tucking the voucher into his belt pocket. "Means a lot, ma'am!"

"Get your filthy little paws off of m- OW!!!"

Tom and his company had turned their attention toward Tails' compound, where a bruised Robotnik was busily being 'escorted' toward one of the waiting helicopters. 

"Keep it moving, skinbag!" One of the soldiers growled, the butt of his rifle impacting the small of Eggman's back.

"You!" Robotnik's eyes glared at Tom, staring utter death. "You may think you've won, _sheriff_ , but mark my words! I WILL be back!! And when that time comes... I'm coming for you, and that entire freak show you call a family!!!"

Tom responded with a smile and a raised finger.

With that, Commander Acorn bade her farewells and offered her thanks once again, before returning to her helicopter and joining the squadron as they escorted the good doctor toward his justice, to be incarcerated in a maximum security prison near the capitol of Mobotropolis.

"Hey, you still there baby?" Maddie nudged Tom in the ribs, bringing him back to the present. He winced in pain, still feeling his injuries from his brawl with Robotnik.

"You wanna just break them?" He muttered jokingly, his wife putting on an expression of mock-pity.

"Oh, does it still hurt? Maybe you shouldn't pick fights with guys twice your size!"

"Hey, and who won that fight and brought to justice the most evil mastermind this planet has ever seen? This hedgehog right here!"

Maddie smiled, her husband appearing uncannily like their blue son as he jerked a thumb toward himself. She reached out and lightly brushed his face with a hand. "You want me to kiss it better?"

Tom shrugged, raising his beer. "If that makes you happy, you do what you have to d-"

Tom was cut off as his Maddie leaned forward, planting a loving kiss on his lips. He initially tried to pull away, before relenting and simply accepting it. He'd missed kissing his wife like this, whatever species they were now.

"Hey mom, dad I..." Sonic and his friends, returning from their game, paused as they observed the smooching couple, the blue hedgehog's face splitting into a mischievous grin. "We aren't interrupting anything, are we?"

"I dunno…" Tails added, his own arm wrapping around the shoulders of Zooey, "they look pretty busy to me!"

"Oh..." Zooey and Amy cooed, hands clasping in adoration. "That is so cute!"

"So adorable!"

"So romantic!" Added Knuckles, joining the two girls.

Tom raised his beer in their direction and grunted, signifying that he was too busy to converse at this time.

Eventually, Tom and Maddie finished exchanging intimacy and the whole gang returned to lounging around, enjoying what was left of the setting sun. Knuckles brought out his special-brewed Echidna-juice, and soon those who partook were becoming mildly discombobulated.

"This is the life, huh guys?" Tom said, swirling his drink around inside a hollowed out coconut, "shame we gotta go home soon..."

"Yeah..." Maddie replied wistfully, "A shame..."

"How do you think people will... respond?" Sonic said, rubbing sand from his fur after being roughly deposited from Knuckles' shoulders. 

Tom shrugged. "Wade's already made some progress back home... y'know, explaining stuff..."

"I'm sorry I could never figure it out, guys..." Tails mumbled, one eye half closed as he sat beside his unamused-looking future wife, "Some genius, huh?"

"It's not your fault, baby!" Maddie said, reaching out and stroking at his fur, "What happened happened, and... well..."

"Just don't worry about it, bud..." Tom chimed in, chuckling at Miles' wobbly state, "At least now we're... all the same, so there's that!"

"One happy little family of super-powered critters, huh?" Sonic added, flopping into a lounger beside his father, the two hedgehogs uncannily alike, as though they really were blood-related. "They should make a movie about us!"

"I'll stick to being a cop..." Tom muttered, "If they'll let me..."

"Why wouldn't they?" Sonic replied, "Green Hills has had a Wachowski as sheriff for three generations! Why break tradition now?"

"Can you imagine the first time he has to pull someone over?" Tails slurred, leaning forward in his seat and grinning, "Hey ma'am! I'm sheriff Thomas Wachowski the hedgehog! Do you have any idea how fast you were going?"

Sonic grinned and shot a thumbs up to his brother. "Way past fast!"

Tom pointed toward his trouble-making sons. "You boys aren't too old for a clip round the ears, you know..."

"I'm sure it'll work out fine, honey..." Maddie wrapped her hand in his, and smooched the side of his head. "No matter what!"

"Oh. My god..." Amy watched on, overwhelmed by emotion as the Wachowski family bantered among themselves, "You guys are _so_ cute all together!"

"Yeah..." Sticks, having finished securing her burrow, returned and scrutinised the family. "You guys ain't so bad for shapeshifting aliens from another planet! I guess I won't have ta incinerate ya's after all!"

"Maddie?" Amy said, approaching the black hedgehog, "Can I borrow your phone? I need to get a picture of this for you guys..."

And so she did, snapping several photos on the unfamiliar Earth device for the Wachowskis to take home with them. Sonic sat off to one side, wearing his usual lopsided grin and flashing a thumbs-up, A bleary eyed Tails sat to the other with his future wife, and in center frame, Maddie nestled her head on Tom's shoulder, the brown hedgehog with shades lowered attempting to appear as dignified as he could manage.

..............................................................

"Okay guys!" Tom hefted his case, the luggage considerably lighter than when they had arrived on Mobius at the very beginning oftheir wild vacation, when they thought they were in for a perfectly normal holiday on an alien planet. "We good to go?"

Tails followed him, accompanied by a very excited Zooey, appearing slightly flustered as he fussed with his work overalls.

"I can't believe..." the female chattered, "We're going to an _alien planet!_ This is so exciting!"

"Where's my data pad?" the male responded, barely paying attention to his fiancé, "I swear I had it somewhere..."

It had been decided that, now they were to be married, Miles would return home to Green Hills with Zooey and the two would settle down there for the time being. Miles intended to get a proper job, supporting his own budding family like any other future husband for the time being.

"I hope the dogs are okay..." Tom mumbled, referencing Tony and Bill, the two retriever pups, "Crazy Carl must think we've abandoned them..."

"Well you did literally vanish from the face of the planet for a month," added Wade, the pudgy cop having returned with Shadow from their excursion to Green Hills, the task of bringing people up to speed on the Wachowskis' return and their... new condition... having been completed.

As usual, Rouge the bat was hovering around, teasing a very grumpy Shadow.

"Oh, come _on_ hon..." the white bat groaned, "how many times do I have to say I'm sorry?"

"All of them," Shadow grunted in response, "All of the times."

"It was just a little joke, hon!"

"You have scarred me for life, Rouge..." Shadow replied, glancing to his adopted father. Wade couldn't help but turn a very deep shade of red.

"I promise you, Shadow..." Rouge said, stroking her friend's arm, "That _nothing_ happened between me and your dad, it was just a joke!" She turned and winked mischievously at the human. "Well, nothing that I can remember..."

"ROUGE!!!"

"Okay, guys..." Tom said, briefly rolling his eyes at Maddie, who only smiled lightly. "I'm ready to go home, now... Shadow, you coming with?"

"No," the adopted Whipple grunted, "I'm going to make sure SHE stays here!"

Rouge cackled with mischief. "Oh, I'll find a way to get up to trouble, Shadow..."

"I'm staying too, dad!" Sonic added, "Just make sure there's no stray egg-bots roaming around... and anyway, got some more adventuring to take care of!"

"Fair enough..." Tom grinned, patting his son on the shoulder. "Don't forget to keep in touch! You'll worry your old parents if you just disappear from the face of the universe again!"

Sonic's grin fell, and he awkwardly glanced between his parents. "Uh, yeah... about that..."

Tom felt a stab of concern as he looked to Maddie... and suddenly noticed she wasn't carrying any luggage.

"Mads?" Tom said, regarding her with worry, "What... what's going on?"

Maddie looked to her husband, determined brown eyes meeting his blue. "I'm not going, Tom... I'm not going back to Green Hills. I'm staying here."

Tom's world began, once again, to fall apart. "Maddie?" He croaked, reaching out for her. "We... we have to go back, Mads! I know things are different, but... Green Hills is my home! _Our_ home!"

Maddie shook her head. "I... need to spend a little more time in this place... It's like I belong here..."

"Mads... please..." Tom reached out and took his wife's hands, looking pleadingly into her eyes. "I don't want to go without you..."

"Hey, who said I was staying forever?" Maddie replied, appearing mildly amused at her husband's distress. "I'm coming home Tom, I just... need a little more time, you know?"

Tom, suddenly feeling very foolish, shook his head and grinned. "I still need to get back and... do some kind of damage control... hold the fort..." He rubbed her cheek. "You promise me you'll come back soon?"

"We're not joined at the hip, Tom..." she replied, "I'll be back soon... I promise!"

The couple exchanged a quick smooch, bringing a chuckle from their blue son.

"Okay guys, mushy time over..." he patted Tails on the arm. "You guys ready to go?"

Miles fumbled in his pouch, retrieving a small golden ring. "Any time!"

"Oh..." Zooey squeaked, hugging into her partner, "This is so exciting!"

Tom pointed at his eldest son. "You take care of her, you hear me?"

Sonic grinned and offered a mock salute. "I'll keep her out of trouble, Donut Hog!"

The two males exchanged a tight hug, as Tails threw his ring into the air before them. The ring bloomed into a wide circle of rippling light, through which the overgrown yard of the Wachowskis' back garden could be made out, on the other side of the universe.

"Stay safe, honey..." Tom said, reaching out to take his wife again.

She gave him another smooch. "You too, baby..."

Tom let her go, stepping back through the sand toward the ring portal, taking in another look at the creatures who had been his company these last few weeks. It sure had been a crazy adventure... but at least he was going to see home again. Even if half of his family wouldn't be there just yet.

"Okay..." Tom said, offering an awkward wave, "Bye guys!"

"Bye Tom!"

"Visit again soon!"

Don't do anything I wouldn't do!"

"Hey, my dad _likes_ having fun..."

"Don't bring back any mind-sucking creatures from your weird alien planet!"

"Ooh, Tom, remember to catch up on the bills! We had the electricity to pay last week..."

With that, sheriff Tom Wachowski turned, and headed home.

...................................................................

Another day. Just another day at the speed trap, nothing to do but sit inside a hot police cruiser awaiting the non-existent speeding drivers that never failed to not show up.

"Ugh..." Sheriff Wade Whipple, Green Hills Police Department, leaned away from his seat, sweat sticking the shirt to his back. "I'm bored..."

"Get used to it..." Tom Wachowski muttered, adjusting his shades as he leaned back in the seat beside the sheriff, "Just imagine you're sitting on a beach... which Rhianna..."

"Try being original sometime, dude..."

The two males remained silent for a moment, Tom silently resenting his new status as a civilian.

But what had he expected? His condition was... unique.

"So..." the brown hedgehog, clad in an old flannel shirt and boots, fiddled with the speed gun in his hands. He didn't have to be there right now, but the middle aged hedgehog felt he needed _something_ to do now he was... retired. "How's your first day on the job?"

Wade went bright red. "I'm sorry dude...

"Don't be. I stepped down myself. Best thing I could do, given... everything. Besides, you've been on the force nearly as long as me. You earned it."

"Still..." Wade replied, scanning the deserted highway, "ain't right..."

Tom didn't reply. It was true that he'd stepped down as sheriff of his own accord... but he'd had a little bit of... encouragement in the decision. Apparently, the GHPD had no protocol for ex-human hedgehogs suddenly returning from space.

He could have fought harder, but... he felt like it was his time. After everything, he was probably better off just keeping to himself.

"So..." Wade said, changing the subject, "How's the young couple?"

Tom laughed dryly. "Noisy. Their room's right next to mine, so..."

Wade snorted. "Little bastard... think you're gonna be a grandpa soon?"

"Don't, Wade..." Tom replied, glaring pointedly at his friend, "I'm gonna be having nightmares..."

Again, they lapsed into silence as terrifying thoughts of a house filled with tiny screaming fox-children ran around Tom's brain. 

"You heard anything from the rest of the family?"

Tom shook his head. "No... I guess they're busy going on adventures..." He sighed, staring down at his hands. "Guess they don't need an old fart like me hanging around..."

Wade couldn't help but notice his friend fumble with something around his neck, obscured by his old oversized flannel.

"Don't feel too down, buddy..." Wade said, giving his best friend a light punch on the arm, "They said they'd be back soon..."

"Yeah..." Tom replied, leaning his muzzle in one hand and staring out of the window, "You know," he said, after a moment's pause, "It could be worse I guess... at least I got a full pension. The bastard owed me that much at le-"

Tom was cut off as the speed gung in his hand began bleeping. He and Wade peered at the device, both noting that the recording read in excess of seven hundred miles per hour.

No vehicles had passed by. Especially vehicles that could travel at near supersonic speeds.

Wade and Tom looked at one another. Wade raised a hand and pointed to the speed gun.

"Tom?" the pudgy sheriff said, "Do you think-"

 _Bleep bleep bleep._ the two buddies checked the radar speed gun again, this time to find the reading at a paltry... six hundred and ninety miles per hour.

"Yeah..." said Tom, reaching over and opening the passenger side door with a _clunk_ , "I think..."

The brown hedgehog hopped from the police cruiser, boots crunching into the sand, looking every bit the sheriff he had been as he tucked one thumb into his belt and adjusted his shades. He began to leave the police vehicle, steady step by steady step, before he came to a halt and scanned both ends of the highway.

"I don't suppose..." the hedgehog said loudly, "There are any joyriders around these parts?"

"Hey dad!"

Tom yelped and hopped back, curling inward slightly as his super-speedy blue son appeared right in front of him, black pointed nose almost touching black pointed nose.

"HA!!!" Sonic cackled with laughter, clutching his stomach and pointing as his father did his best to adjust himself, "You should have seen your face, dad! _Priceless!!_ "

Tom brushed off his green flannel and approached the speedster with intent "You should see what _your_ face'll look like if you try that again!"

The two hedgehogs fell into a rough, manly embrace, perfectly befitting two baddass rogues such as themselves.

"Missed you, blue devil..."

"Missed you too, Donut Hog!"

Tom and Sonic stepped away from their hug, awkwardly consolidating their positions as sheriff Whipple leaned against his cruiser, grinning at the reunion.

"So..." Tom shrugged widely and took a quick look around, "We had two recordings on the old speed gun... you alone here, blue devil?"

There was a brief whip-crack of displaced air, and a microsecond later...

"Hi, honey!"

Tom, for a second time, jumped almost clean out of his brown pelt and fought the urge to transform into an impenetrable ball as his wife, accompanied by their son, howled with laughter at his startled disposition.

"Hi there!" Maddie giggled, a highly amused grin stretching across her face, "Donut Hog!"

Tom set his jaw and wore his most _formidable_ expression as he approached the two speedsters. 

"Say, ma'am..." the 'sheriff' said, thumbs tucked into his belt as he adjusted an imaginary brimmed hat, "do you have any idea how fast you were going?"

The black furred hedgehog set a hand on her waist and attempted a pseudo-seductive stance, batting her eyelashes, "Why, I'm so sorry officer... are you going to give me a ticket?"

Tom finished his approach and set his hands at his wife's waist. "I dunno, miss... something like that..."

"Ew guys, _gross!!!!_ " Sonic whined as his parents exchanged a very sloppy kiss, "You're gonna give me diabetes!!"

"So.." Tom said, pulling his wife close, "You're back..."

Maddie grinned, pointed teeth poking from the sides of her mouth, "Apparently..."

"This a flying visit?"

"I... I think..." Maddie's eyes flickered down, looking through the sand as she considered her words, "I think I've had enough adventuring..." She followed her statement with a mischievous smile, "For now..."

Tom gazed into her eyes, which despite everything remained the same as he had always remembered, "I missed you so much, Mads..."

"Me too, baby..." Maddie replied, smile falling into a sheepish grin as she held her husband, "I'm sorry it took so long... but I think I'm finally ready to come home..."

Tom's heart leapt, and he pulled her in tight to kiss her forehead. "You have no idea how much I wanted to hear that..."

Sonic allowed a retching noise to grind from his throat and nudged Wade in the hip. "So, uncle Wade?"

Wade chuckled and ruffled the blue hedgehog's 'hair'. "Yeah, kid?"

Sonic returned his attention to his snuggling parents and grinned with cheer, feeling nothing but joy to finally see them reunited. He flexed his spines and his face warped into a devilish leer as he looked back up at his uncle.

"How's Tails and Zoe been doing?" The blue hedgehog said.

Sheriff Whipple snorted with barely contained laughter. "Noisy, or so I hear..."

**Author's Note:**

> Also, I finally made a Tumblr for my fics! https://theincredibledogboy.tumblr.com


End file.
